Sign in with Facebook
Loading...
1st out of 86 books
—
152 voters
The C Programming Language
This book is meant to help the reader learn how to program in C. It is the definitive reference guide, now in a second edition. Although the first edition was written in 1978, it continues to be a worldwide best-seller. This second edition brings the classic original up to date to include the ANSI standard.
From the Preface:
We have tried to retain the brevity of the fir...more
From the Preface:
We have tried to retain the brevity of the fir...more
Paperback, Second Edition, 274 pages
Published
March 22nd 1988
by Prentice Hall
(first published 1978)
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
Community Reviews
(showing
1-30
of
3,000)
Found myself rereading this the other day, after recommending Chapter 8 to a young engineer seeking the Truth behind malloc(3)...still as fresh as the day it was printed, although I do note minor failings now (ubiquitous definitions of "MAXLINE" to 1000 rather than idiomatic use of ANSI/ISO's BUFSIZ, rather more use of "register" than I care to see in peacetime, etc). Also, when are we getting an update for C99? I'd like to see more people making proper use of <stdint.h> than is today typi...more
35 likes · like · see review
view all 15 comments
Great book as a reference for C.
If you already know how to program and want to learn C, this is the book. But you must do the exercises: don't read the book; work the book.
If you already know how to program and want to learn C, this is the book. But you must do the exercises: don't read the book; work the book.
This was the first ever introduction to a computer (forget programming, or even knowing that C is a software program running using another software program called compiler.. I mean exposing the first cro magnon to a machine that looks like TV and has a typewriter in front). And I can tell you the cro magnons sitting with me in the classroom in the second year of undergrad did not like this book. AT ALL! I still remember looking at the hello world program and typing it in and saw hello world gett...more
I remember picking this book at age 16 after rummaging through all the crap from Schildt and others. Nine years later, it's sitting on my coffee table like an ancient manuscript or some old papyrus.
K&R2 doesn't fill in gaps of knowledge of arguably one of most fundamental languages, but in fact lives underneath C - it acts as a reference, an excellent tutorial, even a birth of a specification before the ANSI standard was officially released. Ritchie single-handed the entire text which gives...more
K&R2 doesn't fill in gaps of knowledge of arguably one of most fundamental languages, but in fact lives underneath C - it acts as a reference, an excellent tutorial, even a birth of a specification before the ANSI standard was officially released. Ritchie single-handed the entire text which gives...more
K&R2, as it's known in the field, is a tutorial and reference guide to the C programming language.
I first read it at age 15 with no formal training in programming at all, working on top of some short online tutorial, but I kinda' sorta' got most of it. I think this says something great about my hobby horse, unschooling, but more to the point it also says something good about this book: it manages to communicate its ideas quite well, I think.
Beyond helping a fledling programmer get started on...more
I first read it at age 15 with no formal training in programming at all, working on top of some short online tutorial, but I kinda' sorta' got most of it. I think this says something great about my hobby horse, unschooling, but more to the point it also says something good about this book: it manages to communicate its ideas quite well, I think.
Beyond helping a fledling programmer get started on...more
Certainly a book hyped by many folks, calling it the to read when learning C.
Well, in reality it's just that, hyped. There is no objective reason why this book is a must-read or good at all. Sure, it does cover the important aspects of C, but it's very shallow, never going into details. As such, it's as good as every "Learning $language in $small_amount days".
Well, in reality it's just that, hyped. There is no objective reason why this book is a must-read or good at all. Sure, it does cover the important aspects of C, but it's very shallow, never going into details. As such, it's as good as every "Learning $language in $small_amount days".
2 likes · like · see review
Excellent A+++++++ Would read again!
The C Programming Language is THE VERY BEST way to learn the C programming language. Starting with the basic "Hello World" program, this book covers everything (of course, as the official guide to the language this is expected). As any programmer worth his salt will tell you, C is one of the most useful languages, and at least basic knowledge is mandatory.
The C Programming Language is THE VERY BEST way to learn the C programming language. Starting with the basic "Hello World" program, this book covers everything (of course, as the official guide to the language this is expected). As any programmer worth his salt will tell you, C is one of the most useful languages, and at least basic knowledge is mandatory.
4 likes · like · see review
This book is all I needed to learn the fundamentals of C Programming. From there it took lots of practice to become an expert. What I like most about this book is that it is straight forward, like an encyclopedia. For those with a knack for programming, I would highly recommend this to learn C. It doesn't go into verbose discussions of how to use C.
Think of this as a rule book. If you were learning chess, it would show you how all the pieces move, including castling and check and mate. It doesn'...more
Think of this as a rule book. If you were learning chess, it would show you how all the pieces move, including castling and check and mate. It doesn'...more
Mar 22, 2011
Joecolelife
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommended to Joecolelife by:
www.CocoMartini.com Online Bookstore
As somebody else said, this book is NOT for a programming beginner - its style of writing is quite terse with few or no actual illustrations (via drawings of flow-charts {or equivalent}, programming-structure, etc.) versus a lot of text to read through. To make matters worse, C (and its derivatives like C++, C#, etc.) is a very LEAN (and truly MEAN!!) programming language 'per se' - with relatively few prewritten macros, subroutines and functions, one can get frustrated very quickly! [Furthermor...more
Feb 07, 2013
Joan{missing the vampire bunny slippers!}
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Shelves:
ebooks-i-have,
books-for-uni
This book was a good reference when I was looking things up about some libraries and their functions. It didn't solve all my problems, but it's very easy to read, almost like a literary book. All the basics are there and they are well explained, I just had some problems when I had a few more specific questions that I had to look up on the Internet, because there wasn't anything helpful in the book.
Overall, if there were a few more examples at some points and it went into a little more detail at...more
Overall, if there were a few more examples at some points and it went into a little more detail at...more
Truly the C Bible
If only all programming books were this succinct and to the point...
If only all programming books were this succinct and to the point...
2 likes · like · see review
The First Edition of The C Programming Language -- "K&R" as it's known to nerds -- is a masterpiece of clarity in explanation. I was just telling my daughter about it a few days ago. Then the 2nd Edition came out, featuring ANSI C. Probably it was more useful to a lot more programmers, but it was not nearly as engaging a read. I think a young programmer who really wants to get C should read the first edition for learning, then treat the 2nd edition as a go-to source for answers to puzzling q...more
Apr 29, 2011
Balint Gyimesi
rated it
3 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
beginner C programmers
Recommended to Balint by:
Andres Martinez
As a former C programmer (who never read this book before) I simultaneously found myself wishing that I had found this book before I started in C and also being disappointed in the relatively shallow coverage of the language. The basics are here and all very well explained and written and should be a great guide to anyone seriously taking on C, but after spending many years with C in a production environment, I felt I saw nothing new in here. Ended up skipping about half of the book and read onl...more
Regardless of the fact that the architect of the language is a co-author, this book is simply not a good book on discussing the intricacies of C, a language replete with low-level details defining its behavior.
Everything, including a discussion on sequence points and side effects, among other topics, is included in Peter Prinz's and Tony Crawford's C in a Nutshell, which is masterful in its coverage of the language. Combine C in a Nutshell with Summit's C Programming FAQs and you have the entire...more
Everything, including a discussion on sequence points and side effects, among other topics, is included in Peter Prinz's and Tony Crawford's C in a Nutshell, which is masterful in its coverage of the language. Combine C in a Nutshell with Summit's C Programming FAQs and you have the entire...more
Sep 01, 2011
Thomas Wolfe
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommended to Thomas by:
Anh Luong
Shelves:
programming
I needed to learn C to work with openCL to optimize a genetic algorithm for the traveling salesman problem so I read this.
Pointers are pretty interesting. um... not sure what else to say. It's a good book and all, but after ruby... I just don't see myself using C unless I really need to (eg even with bindings for openCL for ruby the kernel programs still need to be in C). I guess I recommend this book since at the very least it's relatively short in comparison to some other C books I've seen whi...more
Pointers are pretty interesting. um... not sure what else to say. It's a good book and all, but after ruby... I just don't see myself using C unless I really need to (eg even with bindings for openCL for ruby the kernel programs still need to be in C). I guess I recommend this book since at the very least it's relatively short in comparison to some other C books I've seen whi...more
I have the Second Edition, and this classic text book provides a good introduction to the C computer language. While the language hasn't stood still since my 1988 edition. For a start C89, C99 and C12 have been released, the basics of the language are unchanged. The writing style is very accessible.
I first got into C during my summer job of 1992 at Simis Medical Imaging, and I didn't go back to Pascal for any new work after that. Instead I discovered C++ in 1994, which is a whole other book not...more
I first got into C during my summer job of 1992 at Simis Medical Imaging, and I didn't go back to Pascal for any new work after that. Instead I discovered C++ in 1994, which is a whole other book not...more
You'll most likely run across reviews saying this is a horrible book and some like this that says it is a must have. I was given this book on my first day at my first software development job and still keep a copy in my office, even after dozens of years.
It doesn't try to explain how to program in see, but it is a short and complete C reference book. If you want to learn how to program in C, this is not the book for you. If you are going to be doing any serious development using C, you should ge...more
It doesn't try to explain how to program in see, but it is a short and complete C reference book. If you want to learn how to program in C, this is not the book for you. If you are going to be doing any serious development using C, you should ge...more
I read this years ago when I was first taking C. I don't have this edition, but an earlier one. After wading through several other books, I kept coming back to this one as a reference while programming. It is deceptively short & sweet. Re-reads constantly found me more avenues to explore using their basics.
I gave a copy to my son & he came to the same conclusion. While other, larger, & more specific books come & go as C evolves, this basic work is a must for any serious programme...more
I gave a copy to my son & he came to the same conclusion. While other, larger, & more specific books come & go as C evolves, this basic work is a must for any serious programme...more
This book really is "the" bible for C programming. I know "these days" C may not be as popular as it once was, but if you do find yourself needing to go back to some old school plain C programming then THIS IS THE BOOK.
I programmed in C for a few years and went through a few books here and there, but nothing truly explained everything clearly and simply like this book did. Things like pointers are explained so simply that even if you understood them before, you feel like you understand them bett...more
I programmed in C for a few years and went through a few books here and there, but nothing truly explained everything clearly and simply like this book did. Things like pointers are explained so simply that even if you understood them before, you feel like you understand them bett...more
Learning C is not the easiest task. There are more modern languages you can start with, but unless you can program in a language like this, you shouldn't be touching a more modern object-oriented language. This book is essential for programmers. It is daunting for beginners, but if you take your time, drafting up the beginnings of any piece of code becomes natural. I loved my time with this language, entirely due to this reference book. Learn this, move on.
At first, I read chapters from this book and thought "wow, these guys sound like all the other 'intro to a programming language' books that I've read." But it dawned on me that K&R did it first and all the other books I read were really copycats. Because of that, I respect the clarity in teaching the core syntax of the language that so many others have mimicked.
Even thought K&R teach C well, I was disappointed with a lot of the style in their samples. The book was first written in a diff...more
Even thought K&R teach C well, I was disappointed with a lot of the style in their samples. The book was first written in a diff...more
This book (together with Kochan) helped me learn C, which quickly became my favorite programming language and remained so for many years. Contains the original 'hello, world' program which has been copied ad nauseum ever since. I know the authors released a second edition but I never looked at it, the first one was fine. I suspect the main reason for the second edition was to replace the classic K&R syntax with the ANSI standard.
I wish all tech books could be this good.
Nearly all books in the computer science field are terrible. K & R is exceptional. It is comprehensive while still managing to be compact.
K & R is showing its age in some respects. The text is terse, which can be frustrating. But it also rewarding once you've worked through the problems. Few other books in this field are brave enough to demand you clarify your thinking.
Most other books, even books which the author claims are modeled after K &...more
Nearly all books in the computer science field are terrible. K & R is exceptional. It is comprehensive while still managing to be compact.
K & R is showing its age in some respects. The text is terse, which can be frustrating. But it also rewarding once you've worked through the problems. Few other books in this field are brave enough to demand you clarify your thinking.
Most other books, even books which the author claims are modeled after K &...more
Probably the best book out there on C and a great introduction even though it' super old. A great reference and introduciton. Makes me happy that I don't have to code in C that often anymore, however whenever I do need to reference some C code, this book comes in handy. This book, though it does help you build a great foundation for being one of the lower level (high level languages) like c++.
This is THE C reference book and it was an absolute pleasure to work through. I owe all of my C prowess to Kernighan.
His writing is approachable, unassuming and complete. He conveys the finer points of the language in such a way that stays with you. I really haven't had the need to revisit this book as it is now absolutely part of my repertoire.
If you consider yourself a serious coder and you haven't read through this, you're missing out.
His writing is approachable, unassuming and complete. He conveys the finer points of the language in such a way that stays with you. I really haven't had the need to revisit this book as it is now absolutely part of my repertoire.
If you consider yourself a serious coder and you haven't read through this, you're missing out.
Oct 18, 2010
Ettore Pasquini
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
software engineers
Recommended to Ettore by:
CS101 professor
Shelves:
technology
Any software (hell, even hardware) engineer has hopefully heard about this book. If you don't own it, buy it right now! You won't find a single engineer on Earth telling you this is something less that awesome. This book achieves the perfect balance between terseness and exhaustiveness.
Computer Science book writers and publishers: can we go back to a writing style where computer books are in the 150 - 200 pages range, instead of the regular 600 - 900? Come on.
Computer Science book writers and publishers: can we go back to a writing style where computer books are in the 150 - 200 pages range, instead of the regular 600 - 900? Come on.
This is the definitive guide on C programming (obviously since the creator of C wrote it). It is a good reference while learning C and also for quick reminders if you forget the name/purpose of a standard library function. It is short and to the point so finding what you need is easy. I keep it on my desk at work in case of emergencies (brain farts, etc.).
One of the things that I like about the C programming language is that it is very small and simple to learn. This book is correspondingly small, yet it is comprehensive.
I already knew some C when I read this book, but reading this book gave me an appetite for understanding more about how compilers work and about the theory and design of programming languages.
I already knew some C when I read this book, but reading this book gave me an appetite for understanding more about how compilers work and about the theory and design of programming languages.
The C bible, a good place to start. During the
Process Improvement Code Readings, everyone would
base their observations and criticisms by citing
Kernighan & Ritchie. You'd think in the acronymic
world of computers, someone would have come up
with something quicker, K&R? no, it was always
according to ... Kernighan & Ritchie.
Process Improvement Code Readings, everyone would
base their observations and criticisms by citing
Kernighan & Ritchie. You'd think in the acronymic
world of computers, someone would have come up
with something quicker, K&R? no, it was always
according to ... Kernighan & Ritchie.
This book describes the C programming language in its entirety, tersely. As an introduction for novice programmers, it may be too terse. But I like this book for its brevity as much as for its content. It's a little like Walter Rudin's Principles of Mathematical Analysis: tersely elegant.
There are no discussion topics on this book yet.
Be the first to start one »
Goodreads is hiring!
Brian Wilson Kernighan is a computer scientist who worked at Bell Labs alongside Unix creators Ken Thompson and Dennis Ritchie and contributed greatly to Unix and its school of thought.
More about Brian W. Kernighan...
Share This Book
No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »
