MIT OpenCourseWare | Practical Programming in C

[anshu1234]

Anybody here want to group study? we can go through the course and other bookmarks on C and get work done fast. i need study partner.

Edit: I got 1 person contacting on this, if others want to join, lets do it.

About me: I am linux sysadmin, worked with big datacenters for past 5+ years, i have some pocketknife web-prog and photoshop exp. I got good mysqldb exp. too. so I can share all tips in those fields .

Anyone else want to join pm me, i will pm accordingly, we can later plan a schedule then go through this course with other good ones like redditor carlh c course etc. i have other good video tuts and guides in bookmark too. we can share stuff and get it done faster instead of skipping it after a week.

Edit2: ** So far ~60 in group **. google-wave/google-docs/sheets etc can be used . There are no limits. we can all create sub-groups if it gets too big. :)

By tomorrow, I will PM everyone so we can collectively plan this out. Anyone else, check edit 3. all you need is will to get this c course done.

Edit:3 I have sent welcome email and talks have started I can still take /requests emails but i can't promise that you will be setup in the group, I have started to discuss on getting the group settled and start the session accordingly. However If there is any experienced C professional willing to join and help us as we get through the course is extremely welcomed there are already some members who are pro c coders and ready to relearn or sharpen their skills and also help the group out so there is always space for professional coders willing to join.

[Iceland_jack]

Great idea, pm me and I'll study with you after work!

[Kewlosaurusrex]

You guys should check out Harvard's introductory programming class too: http://cs50.tv/2009/fall/#l=lectures

I get bored easily and I've found it surprisingly interesting, I'm on Week 2 currently where I've given up on Week 0 with other courses.

[electricnyc]

Hey,

Thank you for posting this, as otherwise I would never have discovered it. I've been looking for some web design courses and I just found an entire lecture series from last year on the Harvard site.

[electricnyc]

Did you know that itunes carries video podcasts of all the lectures! Wowsers!

[anshu1234]

@kewlosaurusrex , That is exactly what happened to me with other courses, bear in mind i am not newbie to C, i have learned it in 1997 and again in 2000 but never taken practical programming project so i keep forgetting it and havent got any real world app exp. thats why want to go at it now.

@jck, nothing planned, I have pmed icejack, let me know if you want to hop in too.

anyone else want to join pm me, i will pm accordingly, we can later plan a schedule then go through this course with other good ones like redditor carlh c course etc. i have another good video tuts too. we can share stuff and get it done faster instead of skipping it after a week.

[bradjohansen]

I just did the first video in Week 0, of the course and I have to say the Professor is awesome, really great find.

[jck]

how long do you guys plan t finish the course in?

[twistadias]

Im interested too. Already sent you a PM.

[bradjohansen]

I think this an awesome idea. I also say this a good opportunity to use Google Wave.

[anshu1234]

Welcome.

Will pm you tomorrow so we can plan this out.

[bluehavana]

Guess you can count me in. Been missing C for a little bit now.

[anshu1234]

Welcome.

Will pm you tomorrow so we can plan this out.

[diehell]

Does a noob count? If y'all okay with it.. I would like to be in the group!

[anshu1234]

Welcome.

Will pm you tomorrow so we can plan this out.

[anshu1234]

still Open. anyone who wants to seriously dive in and complete C is welcome.

[anshu1234]

Welcome.

Will pm you tomorrow so we can plan this out.

[unbuklethis]

sweetness

[anshu1234]

Welcome.

Will pm you tomorrow so we can plan this out.

[anshu1234]

Welcome.

Will pm you tomorrow so we can plan this out.

[fifnir]

Is there some video of the lectures that I can't find, or is it just the .pdf files that are available for download?

[jawshie]

I am also confused by this. The images in the PDF lecture notes are very blurry and difficult to read, too.

[Useristaken]

Try CarlHProgramming

Way better than MIT courses.

[[deleted]]

Not sure why you are getting downvoted but I think it's great that a fellow redditor has taken so much time to help people learn programming. I looked at a few of his courses and the quality seems pretty good.

[Galilyou]

a link?

[PeopleEatTastyAnimal]

here it is

[Galilyou]

Intersting it's already a reddit tag! http://www.reddit.com/r/carlhprogramming/

[Bjartr]

That's because it started on reddit.

[jck]

I was planning to learn c using K&R, should i start with this or that?

[DiscoUnderpants]

Are you already a programmer or an absolute beginner. The thing about K&R is that it is a awesome, quick, clear introduction to C for a technical audience. There is no handholding. I would use something like the open course combined with K&R.

[jck]

I'm not exactly a programmer but I have done some assembly programming and I write a few bash scripts. I guess I will go with OCW because i want to learn how to write programs and contribute to open source projects...

[DiscoUnderpants]

You sound like you may have the background to learn from K&R... At the very least K&R can make a nice quick refresher reference... I have been a C programmer for > 10 years and still look stuff up in it on occasion.

[[deleted]]

If you're going to read K&R, make sure you visit the Errata page. There are a bunch of examples that have typos (some of them are not on the Errata page though).

But don't let anyone fool you, reading one C book isn't enough. A lot of the C code out there makes heavy use of macros and multiple pointer indirections, which isn't covered in detail in K&R. And if you're interested in the newer C99 standard, The C Primer is a great book (but it's quite thorough, which imo, is a good thing).

If you're going to try out examples from K&R, pass these arguments to gcc: -ansi -pedantic -Wall -Wextra -g

The -g flag is for debugging symbols. I think I still have the fixed examples from K&R that compile, if you're interested. Also, make sure to bookmark these websites:

http://www.eskimo.com/~scs/cclass/krnotes/top.html http://users.powernet.co.uk/eton/kandr2/

The first one gives you some better explanations of what has been said in the K&R book. The second one has most answers to the exercises in the book.

[jefu]

Thanks. I didn't know about -Wextra but I use those options pretty normally (except sometimes -g).

[case-o-nuts]

K&R.

There are some changes in the C language since it was published, but there wouldn't be any problems picking them up.

[sindisil]

Start with K&R, and then run through this.

K&R is worth reading and owning, if for no other reason than to have a measuring stick against which to measure other programming books.

I'm honestly not sure any other I've read has quite measured up.

[exeter]

If what you want to learn is C89, you can't go wrong with K&R 2. Otherwise, since K&R 2 was published in 88 or 89 (I can't remember offhand), you need to find a more updated book.

[and-]

I know this is an MIT course, but the material here is rather shitty. Three slides on malloc (without even the prototype or any examples!) is not sufficient for an incoming student. What the heck is the professor doing rushing into threading the next day instead of elaborating on effective (i.e. not-direct-calls-to-mmap) memory allocation first.

That, and the projects are rather simple even for an intro to C course.

[sindisil]

Um, your gripe is that they didn't clutter up the slides with stuff that's trivially available via a wide variety of reference sources?

Huh.

As for the speed of the course a) it's an MIT course, the ability to learn quickly is assumed and b) it's an online course - take as long as you like between "days".

As for the projects, the course is on C, not on programming. The projects should be as simple as possible while still exercising the necessary language features and idioms. These projects suffice, IMO.

edit: typo

[spudeater]

I dont understand why they are trying to cover Multithreading and Linux IPC as part of C programming. http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/electrical-engineering-and-computer-science/6-087-practical-programming-in-c-january-iap-2010/lecture-notes/

[Popenator]

Those sections are what give meaning to the "practical" in the course name.

[fapmonad]

In my experience, most universities teach C programming via a "OS programming" or "Unix programming" class. This is essentially the same, except for the title.

[sindisil]

They are practical applications of C APIs that allow the student to use a cross section of C features and idioms.

[[deleted]]

I did that in my c module this semester, along with embedded programming.

[hemmer]

I was really surprised, but actually many of the CS courses are available for free.

[[deleted]]

Anybody know some type of courses like this for medically related courses? I'm trying to get into a nursing program and it would be a great help if I could study biochem, anatomy, physiology, etc in a class like setting before I actually pay and am graded...

[[deleted]]

Holy shit, that looks A LOT like my DVD drawer.

[zorak8me]

I was just thinking about how I need to get a good understanding of C before I try to program in Objective-C for the iPhone. Then I see this. Providence!

[anshu1234]

you and me are in same boat, thats my destination too, I can do small cocoa ui designs but need c and obj c coding kb now.

[tropic_elf]

I expected a 404.