Sams Teach Yourself C in 21 Days Provides you the skills you need to get started with C. This tutorial helps you master the basics and them move on to the more advanced features and concepts. It gives you expert tips on implementing C in the corporate environment, improves your understanding of the fundamentals of C, and teaches you the advanced features that C offers. Full description
Aside from teaching myself BASIC on my Commodore 64 way-back-when...this is the first programming language I have learned and I owe it all to this book. It is fantastic. Step-by-step, they take you from defining/describing what C is, to writing real-world programs.
You would do well to ignore the ignorant reviewers who complain about the title "21 days" (or 24 hours). These people are only looking for excuses. All the 'Teach yourself in 21 Days' books should be seen as 21 LESSONS (and the 24 hours as 24 LESSONS). Could I do it in 21 days? Yes, following the book's plan I could. Easily. But, I have a full time job, family, etc. and these factors can NOT be held accountable by the authors. 21 Excellent Lessons.
Days, Hours, months...whatever YOUR pace is, this book does an EXCELLENT job of teaching you what you need to know to write real-world, practical C Programs. I first learned Unix with using of the 'Teach yourself' books and have been a devoted reader ever since.
Some days I have time to go through 2 lessons while other times a single lesson may take me a day or 2 due to time constraints. Bottom line: I LEARNED C FROM THIS BOOK AND YOU CAN TOO.
I am NOT a computer science major. I am a self-taught Linux hacker who never wrote a line of code (except for a little BASIC 15 years ago) and I am now writing C code and tinkering with Open Source programs. (I'm running Slackware and Debian, if you were wondering).
Other tutorials are fine but many assume you are using Windows 95/98. "C is C is C", but this book is written in 'Linuxland' for Linux users; GCC is carefully explained and used here. I use and love the Nedit editor which was one of several recommended in the book.
New to C? Or want a fresh start from the beginning while in a Linux environment? GET THIS BOOK and digest all 21 LESSONS at your own pace!
Geoff Thornton
---
Good beginning book!
It's a great way to start to learn how to program. Easy to follow through and assignments to keep you challenged as you go! 8)