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From: russotto@eng.umd.edu (Matthew T. Russotto)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.programmer
Subject: Re: Getting started in C programming for the Mac
Keywords: If ignorance is bliss then I'm a happy camper.
Message-ID: <1990May3.172727.5049@eng.umd.edu>
Date: 3 May 90 17:27:27 GMT
References: <2355@lamont.ldgo.columbia.edu>
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Organization: College of Engineering, Maryversity of Uniland, College Park
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In article <2355@lamont.ldgo.columbia.edu> mudpit@lamont.ldgo.columbia.edu (dan quoidbach) writes:
>I've seen a number of programming packages advertised, like Think C and 
>Lightspeed C.  Is one superior to the others or is it a matter of taste?
Think and Lightspeed are the same product.  The two most popular C's out
there are MPW C and Think C.  The consensus seems to be that MPW C produces
better/faster code, and that Think C is faster, less expensive, and easier to
use.  On the other hand, if you will be using Fortran also, you might want
to go with MPW because it allows mixing languages much easier than Think C.

>Is a C package all you need to get started or are there other tools of the
>trade that are a must have (debuggers, etc)?
With Think, the C includes the debuggers and everything else necessary.  With
MPW, you need to purchase a 'Shell' program, and a program called SADE
(Standard Apple Debugging Environment) if you want to do source-level debugging.

>Are there any books and reference materials that are useful or essential
>besides whatever manuals come with the C package?
I found the 'C Primer Plus' to be great for learning C, but I basically puzzled
out how to do the mac stuff myself (with some help from the Apple sample
code that existed at the time).  BTW, I've heard that the new edition
of the 'C Primer Plus' is not nearly as good as the old one.
--
Matthew T. Russotto	russotto@eng.umd.edu	russotto@wam.umd.edu
][, ][+, ///, ///+, //e, //c, IIGS, //c+ --- Any questions?