Customer Reviews

Expert C Programming

5 star:		(45)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

The title of this message says it all. This is my 2nd time around reading this book. I bought it about 1 year ago and I'm reading it again just for fun really... The author keeps the book humorous throughout and you'll definitely know you're a geek when you find yourself snickering at all of the hilarious comments in the book. These comments aren't "fun filler" like other books use. It's strange how other books will just throw in silly comic headers at the beginning of each chapter or take time away from learning to say something stupid to try and get a laugh. Peter actually has comments that are hilarious, but will help you learn at the same time. Everything is extremely informative. My favorite chapters include:

Chapter 3: Unscrambling Declarations in C
Chapter 4: The Shocking Truth: C Arrays and Pointers are NOT the Same!
Chapter 5: Thinking of Linking
Chapter 7: Thanks for the Memory
Chapter 9: More about Arrays
Chapter 10: More about Pointers
Appendix: Secrets of Programmer Job Interviews

Yes, even the Appendix was excellent. This book will really help a novice C programmer gain a very FIRM grasp of pointers and C declarations that scared ... us when we first saw C. Find a good book on Algorithms ( Data Structures and Algorithm Analysis in C ) and you're definitely an expert in C!

At first glance the book purports to be similar to other early Bell Labs books about C, specifically, "The C Programming Language", "The Elements of Programming Style", "The C Standard I/O Library", and (not bell labs but another great book) "C: A Reference Manual", etc.

However, the author suffers from being a compiler-writer who doesn't really understand the design philosophy of the C language. This is the same afflication that Bjarne Stroustroup and other language designers suffer from. For example, he complains that only 3% of switch statements in his own compiler have case statement fall-throughs, therefore "We conclude that default fall-through on switches is a design defect in C." (p. 38). This is a rant of a dangerous person. Two underlying concepts of the C language are, "No hidden instructions generated where I cannot see them," and "When in doubt, provide open operators for maximum expressiveness - do not restrict expressiveness". Just because this particular compiler-writer lacks the inventiveness to do interesting things with a switch statement he proposes to force his biases upon the rest of the world. I have seen and written macro libraries that allow you to suspend & resume function calls, and these libraries perform fall-through 100% of the time. Therefore, this book is in error and the author is a victim of his own lack of creativity.

Another thing I disliked was a tendency to try to impress the reader with irrelevant facts that are not germane to the subject, such as typos in the ANSI C standard or tired-out stories on how to burn out IBM PC displays. These things are irrelevant and do not belong within the book.

I recommend you check out the book from a library (as I did) and please do not waste your money on this book.

For those looking to dig deeper into the nuances of the C language, this is an excellent book! It has given me a better understanding of C that is helping me design better C code. A must have!

is this a bestselling novel? this got to be one of the most entertaining technical book ever! heck, i bought it only to enjoy the humorous sections of the book. i like the funny stories at each section which greatly alleviates the "pain" of reading usual C programming books. the interview section is worth the price of the book. great technical writing demonstrated throughout the book. buy it!

Ok, this is in answer to another review. First, I don't think this book was meant for the 20 yr pro. I know the title implies that but honestly I think it was meant for the beginner/slightly experienced programer. Anybody who has read K&R thru and thru should probably skip this book if your looking for more ways to improve your coding practices. Honestly I don't think you would gain that much from it. I would though suggest reading it for the humor.
=)
And here is where I part with that reviewer. I find most of the humor to be both comprehensible and more to the point, funny. It does take a slightly twisted way at looking at the world. Most of the "wasted" paragraphs etc. are not actually wasted, if you're a mid lvl or beginner programer. Even some with experience can get some use out of this book. I do agree that this is probably a 3rd or 4th book for coders. As to the char** not being the same as const char**, just read it VERY carefully, after a bit you will understand. Though I do agree that the author could have been a bit clearer on that an a few other explanations.

I actually liked the varied topics, this book wasn't meant to be a reference encyclopedia nor a indepth analysis of some specific topic. AND personally I am tired of dry books. Which btw, this particular author has been just as guilty as most other computer book authors. Try his Java book and you will see what I mean.

This is an interesting book. It is unlike any other C programming book I have ever read. The book should have been called "A dated cornucopia of tips, tricks, problems, good, bad and ugly things about the C programming Languge."

Most of what the author has said is known to most professional programmers. But, it would definitely be an interesting read if you are new to the world of programming. Most of what the author says is still valid on most contemporary systems, especially if you ignore the oft references to DOS.

I believe a new C programmer should read this as his/her second/third book, just to feel confident among the pros. But, I wouldn't rate it as a must read.

Here are some of the problems with the book:

* too much stupid humor. And in more cases than not, the jokes don't even make you laugh!

* a hodge-podge of topics

* the presentation is not consistent. The author presents problems with pointers, then presents a section on casting, throws around a few programs from the popular IOCCC to impress the kids, then jumps back to pointers, and everything else on Earth.

* the author tries to make a case that C's operator precedence is broken! K&R said that ages back! The author wastes a lot of time lambasting the C standardization commitee! The author wastes quite a few paragraphs quoting sections from the ANSI std.

* the author does not explain anything clearly! Why is a char** not the same as a const char** is never explained! But, the fact is stated and a bogus explanation with useless stories is given over pages and pages.

So, I think this is a decent book, but, if you read K&R thoroughly, and/or implement/maintain enough C software you would know most of these things.

I wouldn't rate this book as a must read, but if you are still a student, and have a week to spare, then make it your second/thrid C book.

This book is a must have for anyone interested in learning more about C programming. It's funny, and it really makes it enjoyable to learn the more advanced aspects of the language. Thanks Mr. Van Der Linden for this wonderfull book!!

I think this book is cute, but written in 1994 it is _way_ out of date in 200x. At that time, for a *nix programmer, it was a gem. I think it will continue to have some usefulness as it was written from the point of view of a very knowledgeable and competent compiler writer, so it provides unique insights. To get the in depth content of this book, I recommend would the peerless "C: A Reference Manual".

The Chapter on unscrambling C declarations is worth the
the price of the book alone. This author is a good writer and
his book is both funny and educational.

I saw this book first shortly after it came out and just had to have it. The DOS material is a bit dated, but still of interest. Chapter 4 on the similarities and differences between pointers and arrays is worth the price of the book alone. The material on function pointers in Chapter 8 is invaluable to an embedded systems programmer like myself. Great Software Humor is scattered throughout.