Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!wuarchive!uunet!aplcen!haven!adm!smoke!gwyn
From: gwyn@smoke.BRL.MIL (Doug Gwyn)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.apple2
Subject: Re: C book
Message-ID: <13783@smoke.BRL.MIL>
Date: 9 Sep 90 22:03:12 GMT
References: <9009082341.AA03694@apple.com>
Organization: U.S. Army Ballistic Research Laboratory, APG, MD.
Lines: 24

In article <9009082341.AA03694@apple.com> RMARTIN@UTCVM.BITNET (Drew Martin) writes:
>It goes into graphic libraries and commands, Console I/O and ...

One should beware of this when trying to learn C.  Standard C does
not include any graphics routines, commands, or console-specific I/O.
Usually, books that describe such things are actually describing one
particular implementation, for example Turbo C under MS-DOS.  One real
advantage of K&R (2nd Ed.) is that it describes what is universal about
C and avoids describing what is specific to any particular environment.
This is important to learn early in one's C experience, because one of
the main advantages of C is its high degree of portability -- IF one
has learned what is guaranteed for C versus what is accidentally true
for a limited subset of programming/execution environments.

Plum Hall Inc. (1 Spruce Av, Cardiff NJ 08232, (609)927-3770) is a
company that specializes in C training, and has published several good
books such as "Learning to Program in C", "Reliable Data Structures in
C", and "Efficient C" which serve well for self-education in C.  They
can be found in some of the better bookstores or ordered directly from
the publisher (as is usually true for technical books).

I recommend steering clear of "The C Puzzle Book", which teaches
details to the detriment of overall programming philosophy, as well as
any book that targets the IBM PC (MS-DOS) environment specifically.