Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!uwm.edu!linac!att!ucbvax!lynx.northeastern.edu!cschmidt From: cschmidt@lynx.northeastern.edu Newsgroups: comp.lang.c Subject: Re: ANSI C /K&R 2nd edition questions,... Message-ID: Date: 16 Apr 91 20:54:40 GMT Sender: usenet@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU Lines: 33 > If there should be a general or common opinion that the 2nd edition of > K&R is not adequate for knowing the ANSI standard, can anyone > recommend something readable/usable? For advice on the new ANSI C, I like the book "Standard C" by Plauger and Brodie, copyright 1989. The authors were members of the committee that developed the new ANSI standard for the C programming language, and their book is meant to present the work of that committee. Plauger was the Secretary and Brodie the "Chair" of that committee. This book is one of the Microsoft Press "Programmer's Quick Reference Series". The list price is about 8 dollars (USA). I know of no other reference book of equal authority on the new standard. The book is concise, well-written, and reasonably priced. I am interested in knowing what you think about this book, in particular whether you agree that is the best reference for writing portable programs using the new standard. > There are plenty of books that purport to `boil down' the standard > into nice, easy, bite-sized bits, but none of them will give you the > Ultimate Answer to any question. Really? Consider a common example: The book "Standard C" includes a list of standard header files. If you want to know whether one of the header files provided with your compiler can be counted on when you port your program to another ANSI C compiler, this book provides an answer. Metaphysics aside, is it true or not that the answer is reliable? If we cannot get reliable answers to simple questions like this, then the ANSI C committee has failed. Christopher Schmidt cschmidt@lynx.northeastern.edu