Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!iuvax!cica!ctrsol!lll-winken!ubvax!ardent!peck!rap
From: rap@peck.ardent.com (Rob Peck)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga
Subject: Re: Rob Peck's Programmer's ... Amiga AND PROGRAMMING C FOR BEGINNERS
Message-ID: <7398@ardent.UUCP>
Date: 19 Jul 89 22:07:10 GMT
References: <4657@crash.cts.com>
Sender: news@ardent.UUCP
Reply-To: rap@peck.ardent.com (Rob Peck)
Organization: Ardent Computer Corp., Sunnyvale, CA
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In article <4657@crash.cts.com> hawk@pnet01.cts.com (John Anderson) writes:
>
>I heard you say a few months or so back that you were working on possibly
>coming out with a Beginner's Guide to C Programming on the Amiga and/or
>Learning C on the Amiga.  Well, where is it?!? :-)

A whole buncha time that I had originally planned to spend on that project
went into the second edition of the Amiga Companion.  SOME time is comin'
in the next 3 months... depending on level of interest of Amiga-inclined
publishers, even if I had the manuscript done now, it'd take a while.
If the pubs don't have nuff interest, I might self-publish, but please
don't hold yer breath over it, it'll be at least 3-4 months away even
if self published.

>Oh, another question:  Will your Programmer's Guide to Amy help me out
>now as a beginner learning the language, or is it mostly learning
>Amiga once C is mastered?

I am afraid I rely on someone knowing C in the first place.  If you want
a good, non-MSDOS/non-Unix/Non-Turbo-C (in other words, a GENERAL book)
on learning C, get the HAYDEN "Learning C".  I forget the author's name.
But this is, from what I have seen so far, the best one.

My own approach, as it goes so far, is to give specifics about PDC, 
Lattice C and Manx C for everything.  This would means "specify what
include files are required, what the command line should look like
and WHY.

Matt Dillon has done a marvelous job in reviewing the Lattice package
in general.  My concentration will simply be on telling new users
what kinds of things you find in these packages and how the pieces
help create and debug programs.  And for programs, I'm covering
"what are include files and why are they there?", what is a data
structure, and whats the difference between setting a value in a
structure directly (with the "." operator) and setting it if you have
a pointer to the structure (with the "->" operator).

Lionel Hummel will (somehow) supply PDC with the package, and as the
author, I'll be getting an includes-license from CBM so that a user
will have a complete package to begin with.  PDC will, of necessity, be
slower and perhaps less efficient than another environment, but will allow
a new user with an interest in C (but temporarily lacking $300.00)
a way to see if C will be useful to them.

Thanks for the interest.  It has at least been moved from the back
burner to the side burner.  :-) 


Rob Peck