Xref: utzoo comp.lang.c:36058 comp.misc:11426 Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!swrinde!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!decwrl!fernwood!portal!cup.portal.com!ekalenda From: ekalenda@cup.portal.com (Edward John Kalenda) Newsgroups: comp.lang.c,comp.misc Subject: Re: Can Novices Jump Directly in C? (Books) Message-ID: <39182@cup.portal.com> Date: 12 Feb 91 08:44:14 GMT References: <1991Feb6.121722.1@hulaw1.harvard.edu> Organization: The Portal System (TM) Lines: 27 peregrin@hulaw1.harvard.edu writes: > Can anyone recommend an introduction to programming book that uses C? > I'm not referring to C-For-Pascal-Programmers etc. kind of books. I'm aware > that most introduction to programming books use Pascal, Basic, or Scheme as > their language, but I haven't seen anybooks that start a novice out directly > with C. I must differ with all the other postings about C being a poor language for the first time programmer to learn. It is a complicated language, IF you dump all the features on the student at once. I have successfully taught several people with NO programming experience the C language. The trick is to convince them the computer will not do what you want it to do, only what you tell it, and you must tell it in GREAT detail. Most of the time I only use the K&R white book and the runtime reference manual that goes with the compiler in use. "Learning to Program in C" by Thomas Plum (Plum Hall, Inc. ISBN 0-911537-00-7) is not bad. Teach them the basic constructs, add structures about 2/3 through the class, spend the last two weeks discussing the power features like pointer arithmatic (sp?), passing addresses of scalers to functions, hardware details like short/int/long relative sizes, unions, typedefs, pre-processor macros, and mixed language programming. They can always get into the stuff that will confuse them in an intermediate C class. Ed ekalenda@cup.portal.com