Nth request of book recommendations

From: Guido Mureddu (gm_81_at_tiscali.it)
Date: 11/27/04

  • Next message: CBFalconer: "Re: K&r chapter-1; exc-17" 
    Date: Sat, 27 Nov 2004 20:26:55 +0100

    Hello,

    I'm a student in electronic engineering. I do know you've seen and answered this
    sort of topic/request countless times, but I haven't found past threads as
    helpful as I had hoped, and even though I have read them all and many reviews, I
    prefer to ask directly to people who know the subject better than anyone else.

    First of all, I'm not new to programming, and I have already had an
    introductory course on C. I have an "intermediate C" course this semester.
    Whatever "intermediate C" means, I intend to learn the language in much greater
    detail than I did with the introductory course. The professor gave us choice
    between two books: "C: The Complete Reference" by Herbert Schildt, and "A Book
    on C" by Kelley/Pohl.
    I have Schildt's. I started reading through it page by page, happy to have found
    a deep and detailed - but readable - reference on the language. As you can
    imagine, the book's inconsistencies started to make me suspicious after the
    first few chapters. I searched here for threads about the book, and found a lot
    of bashing and general dislike of the book, which confirmed my (sad) impression
    that I was reading a very enjoyable, but misinforming, book.

    I want a better book - one that I can rely on. At the same time, I don't want
    another introduction to the language - I've gone through that already. And I
    want something readable, not some sort of C encyclopedia. My searches narrowed
    down possible candidates to these books:

    - "A Book on C", by Kelley & Pohl. This seems to be recommended by many, but is
    it good as a detailed reference? My general feeling is that it might be a little
    too oriented towards the beginner.

    - "The C Programming Language", well, K&R2. Definitely a book I will buy sooner
    or later, but I feel that right now I'd like something more detailed. I know
    it's still the best - but extracting informations from it may not always be
    easy. Also I'm not sure about its value as a complete reference.

    - "C: A Reference Manual" by Harbison & Steele. Do I need this for my studies?
    Is it actually useful for learning, or is it only a reference? Is it readable
    by someone who only knows the basics of the language? In general, can it be read
    almost cover to cover?

    If possible, I'd like to know about the quality of the binding/paper of these
    books: because of their prices, I want them to last one decade, not one year.

    To put it simply: I want a book like Schildt's, but correct, precise and
    conforming to the ANSI standard.

    If you've actually read through all this, thank you. I hope someone can help me.
    Feel free to recommend another book if you think my three possible choices are
    not adequate.

    Guido Mureddu

    _____________________________________________
    Written with VIM - Vi Improved (www.vim.org)

  • Next message: CBFalconer: "Re: K&r chapter-1; exc-17"
    • Quantcast