Learn C on the Mac

by Dave Mark

Considered a classic by an entire generation of Mac programmers, this popular guide has been updated for Mac OS X. Don't know anything about programming? No problem! Acclaimed author Dave Mark starts out with the basics and takes you through a complete course in programming C using Apple's free Xcode tools. This book is perfect for beginners learning to program. It includes Mac OS X examples!

Genres: Programming, Technology, Computers, Apple, Nonfiction

376 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 2008

Reviews

[James Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a hard sort of book to write well, but I feel Dave Mark has done it. Introductions to programming are tricky because they involve a lot of work laying a firm foundation, but too much of that can be daunting for people new to the subject. I've done a lot of programming in a lot of different languages, all derived from C (e.g. PHP, AS3, VBA) and always felt a firmer foundation in C would be a real benefit. Lately, I've also wanted to try my hand at Objective-C, and going into that without a better grounding in C would likely be disastrous.

So some of this was old hat to me, and some of it was brand new. But Mark lays out it all out in an admirably reasonable way, so I would have no trouble recommending this to anyone new to programming. He includes all the basics with plenty of examples and walks you through every line of code. He doesn't take understanding for granted: he ensures it. And that's one mark of fine teaching.

For those interested in learning C but who don't have a Mac, don't let "on the Mac" scare you. Even though I have a Mac, almost all of these examples can be worked on a Windows machine with Cygwin installed. Mark's focus is on programming logic and command-line apps to demonstrate concepts. As such, it's perfectly portable to any platform that can run a C compiler.

[Daniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very well written book especially for people who are absolute beginners to programming. Before reading this book my only experience with programming was a few javascript courses on codeacademy.com yet it was very easy to understand this book. The explanations are very clear and even funny at times to break up some of the monotony.

[Cloay]

- available in SG NLB 005.133 (Central)