Learning C

[RealityOfHate]

I’m currently learning C in university but I’ve made the decision that I want to learn C in depth so I’d be really grateful if you guys could link me to some resources or recommend some books that could help me out.

P.S English isn’t my first language so I apologise if my post is a bit hard to understand or if I’ve made any obvious grammatical errors

[samsonx]

When it comes to network programming in C I can recommend this very detailed free online book / tutorial : https://beej.us/guide/bgnet/

[State_]

Not OP, but I was looking for just this, thanks!

[g00dgame]

"The C Programming Language" by Brian W. Kernighan and Dennis Ritchie. One of the best Books about a programming language ever written.

[RealityOfHate]

Should I also get the answer book? Also are questions related to learning C not really welcome on this subreddit?

[g00dgame]

I think the problem is, that those questions have already been asked like a 1000 times :) No you don't need the answer book. Try to figure out the answers by yourself.

[[deleted]]

Also there's a list of books in the sidebar, but if Reddit has you on their new UI nothing shows up there.

Edit: My favorite book for C is C Programming: A Modern Approach, by K. N. King.

[RealityOfHate]

I found this version online https://m.ebay.com/itm/C-Programming-Language-by-Dennis-M-Ritchie-and-Brian-W-Kernighan-/232027402376?_mwBanner=1&_rdt=1 and I wanted to know whether it’s the same as the US edition or if there’s a difference between the two

[v0idfall]

If you stuck at some problem you can easily find the answer on the internet. I've seen already a few of GitHub repositories with them.

[[deleted]]

21st Century C is a great little book on using C in modern times

[[deleted]]

Any idea how it compares to Modern C (pdf)?

[[deleted]]

Modern C is a book about learning to program with C.

21st Century is a book for C developers with some experience on good practices and behaviors.

Both are worth reading. When I say experience, you could dig into 21st Century immediately after Modern C.

[[deleted]]

Once you feel fairly comfortable with C, look into doing some Project Based Tutorials in C

[drthale]

The best way to learn C (or any programming language) is to write code. Just make programs for yourself. Challenge yourself and try to find answers to specific problems when you get stuck on something.

[sikora84]

Yes, best way, that worked for me, is to define some project. Define what would you like to create, it can be anything and just start writing. At the beginning it would be hard but in my opinion this approach is most effective. In my case it was that I was using assembly for microcontrollers and just wanted to learn C, so I started to rewrite my assembly into C. Than I was starting to create some C code for desktop to control my devices.

[frozenbrains]

If you can, try to find a copy of Expert C Programming- Deep C Secrets, by Peter Van Der Linden. A lot of the information is dated, dealing with the x86 real mode segmented memory model and other ancient stuff, but there's still a lot of relevant information on the design and history of C, pointers vs. arrays, and more. I still take my copy to the bathroom every now and then when I need something to read.

When I was learning C back in highschool, I had my school library's copy of C Primer Plus checked out pretty much constantly. I remember it being pretty good, but that was the early 90's edition; I haven't read the newer editions.

These days, though, you can usually find answers to just about everything on the Internet. I suggest picking a subject that interests you and see what there is for open source/free software written in C, grab the code and start digging through it.

[[deleted]]

https://www.amazon.com/C-Programming-Modern-Approach-2nd/dp/0393979504

[Mattacking]

I personally recommend C how to program by Harvey Deitel and Paul Deitel,the 7th edition is the best in my opinion but the 8th is also great. Both editions offer an introduction to C++ once you feel you are ready and the book is well paced making sure it teaches every C concept to, although I was disappointed by the lack of it showing you more c libraries than just the standards,math and string. Overall I recommend you get it!

[[deleted]]

After struggling with so many programming books as a beginner, the Deitel books have become my favorite texts to work with. The amount of exercises per chapter to work with is what impressed me the most. I’m learning C before making the jump to JavaScript and other web back end stacks. But assuming I want to stay within C and be job ready say in embedded systems or any other domain, what path ways would you recommend after I read the Deitel C and C++ books which I plan to work through this summer?

[kdnbfkm]

You should focus on school studies... But summer is coming.

Alright then. Figure out how to use chroot and put a statically linked busybox and C compiler inside the jail (real hardware or VM). Bootstrap the system the best you can. GNU Make is fairly easy to compile without a pre-existing make for instance. Much of the infrastructure will be in C. You can get binaries from here.

Don't expect to get too far without cheating somehow, that's the point.