Path: utzoo!utgpu!water!watmath!clyde!att!pacbell!ames!oliveb!sun!thetone!swilson
From: swilson%thetone@Sun.COM (Scott Wilson)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.c
Subject: books based on draft-proposed ANSI C
Message-ID: <71019@sun.uucp>
Date: 30 Sep 88 05:22:13 GMT
References: <4700017@m.cs.uiuc.edu> <12393@oberon.USC.EDU> <1988Sep29.044721.16154@utzoo.uucp>
Sender: news@sun.uucp
Reply-To: swilson@sun.UUCP (Scott Wilson)
Organization: Sun Microsystems, Mountain View
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>>Which reminds me: are there any good books out yet giving a complete
>>description of the dpANS? ...
>
>Not unless you count K&R2.  How can there be?  The dpANS is still changing!
>(There is a hope that it won't change much more, but that is a hope only.)
>Once there is a real, true ANSI C standard, you can expect a flood of books
>about it.

I'm already starting to see several books at bookstores that claim to
be based on ANSI C or draft-proposed ANSI C.  In an effort to be first,
aren't the authors of these books doing the C community a disservice
by putting in print information that could change in the near future?  If
I run out and buy K&R 2nd ed. (which I did) and then something changes
between the writing of the book and the final standard I'm not likely to
spend more money for a new book.  I therefore wind up with an incomplete
reference.  Of course no one is twisting my arm to buy the book so it
will be my own fault.  I just wonder why the authors of ANSI C based
books can't wait a few months.  Wouldn't you rather have a book that
said "based on ANSI C" than "based on draft-proposed ANSI C"?  What will
Kernighan and Ritchie do if the standard is different in at least one
significant way from the draft at the time of writing of their book?  Will
we see K&R 3d ed. published six months after the 2d ed?


--
Scott Wilson		arpa: swilson@sun.com
Sun Microsystems	uucp: ...!sun!swilson
Mt. View, CA