Re: A C Adventure: your comments are welcome

On Aug 18, 9:22 am, spinoza1111 <spinoza1...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
On Aug 18, 11:28 am, John Bode <jfbode1...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

His book wasn't titled "C: The Complete Reference If You're Writing
For DOS (or Windows after 1989)".

Most programmers write for Windows.

So what? If you're claiming to teach the C language, you could at
least point out in the example code what parts are common to the
language and what parts are specific to the implementation. Otherwise
those non-windows programmers are going to get frustrated and throw
the whole thing in the wastebasket (which is pretty much what happened
with me).

[snip]


His examples had numerous syntax errors and runtime problems that had
nothing to do with platform.  Closing a file and then attempting to
write to it is an error, regardless of platform.  Dereferencing
invalid or null pointers is an error, regardless of platform.  Making
his examples DOS-centric was annoying enough for someone who was
learning C under VAX/VMS, since the student didn't have a clear idea
of where the language ended and the platform-specific extensions
began. But it didn't matter, because the examples were crap anyway. I
didn't know a lot, but I knew basic errors in logic when I saw them.

Unsubstantiated and probably lies, at third hand.

I had a copy of the first edition while in college and tried to run
the examples. Most of them wouldn't compile because they used DOS-
specific extensions and I was working on VMS, and the ones I could get
to run had numerous logic errors. I showed some of the example code
to my professors, asking if it looked as wrong to them as it did to me
(hey, I was just a student, what did I know), and they agreed that it
was crap.

By contrast, I could always get the examples from K&R or H&S to run
without any problems.

Furthermore, any
computer book contains errors. Although Herb's were not as serious as
you here imply, "use every man according to his deserts, and none
should 'scape whipping". Good programmers, in fact, test each and
every code fragment they get in computer books.



He can write English, a language which unlike a mathematical
formalism is subject to multiple interpretations. Therefore, he was
attacked by people without his compiler-writing or English ability.

What compiler has Schildt written?- Hide quoted text -

Tiny C.


Interesting. Did not know that.

Actual creation here attracts destructive, nihilistic, and Fascistic
hatred here from people who don't create and are for this reason
anxious to destroy people who do. The ability to write also attracts
this Fascistic hatred.


How, exactly, does the adjective "fascistic" apply here? You sound
like a goddamned birther. Or a drama queen.
.

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