Customer Reviews

C: How to Program (6th Edition)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I need to study C-programming in a hurry. So I have been looking for a "get to the point" text book that does not bother me with a lot of "goop", but also does not leave out any of the important stuff. Well, I am now done looking. This book is it. I bought this book yesterday at a local store (of course I paid too much; I should have bought it from Amazon) and just finished chapter 2. This book is excellent; it is very clearly written. The supporting web site was easy to get to by using the code that comes with the text. The website is very substantial.
I am using the Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 Express Edition that came on the CD with the book. After reading through the preface and Chapter 1, I then, per the books suggestion, downloaded appendix H "Using the Visual Studio Debugger". It took me about 45 minutes to work through this. It was very clear, very to the point without a lot of "goop". This debugger is a "piece of cake" to use. Next I finished working through Chapter 2 and I am now ready to start chapter 3. Thanks to the clear writing I am progressing very rapidly. I scanned through the rest of the book and am looking forward to working my way through it.
The programs that I have worked with so far have worked just as outlined in the text. They clearly have been well written and thoroughly tested.
I have bought several C-Books and most of them have been either too in-complete or have presented me with a lot of unnecessary "busy stuff" to read through before I get to the "meat" of the matter. Not so with this text. For me it has been spot on.

Careful with choosing the most convenient method (Kindle) of owning this book. I looked for my access code and there was none. Contacted Pearson support and was told that the ebook version does not come with access code. Tell me where on the site does it say this. Complete ripoff if you ask me. The representative actually had the audacity to tell me that the Kindle version is cheaper so that may be the reason the access code was not included. I informed her/him that because the book was electronic, Pearson actually saves from printing hard copies using paper. I just want anyone thinking of purchasing the kindle version to know the crap that Pearson is saying. Otherwise the book seems well written. I personally want access to the companion site as there are some blanks that need to be filled in my mind. Hope the actual author knows what Pearson is doing to their once loyal customers.

This book is an excellent book, either for learning the basics of C programming or for mastering some advanced books. It is very cleary written, and it's quite comprehensive, too - plenty of functions and practical examples. However, and don't like the exercises, too basic, in my opinion. They focus most in the language itself, but more interesting would be some algorithm development, too! Generally, the authors give you the algorithm, and you must translate it to C, which is a very boring process.

The book rates 5 stars for content: very clear explanations, very easy to understand, good presentation of the subject, well written in general. However, this book has very basic examples, bad exercises and bad, bad organization. Guys, this book is intended to be used as a textbook for a course and for textbooks, the quality of exercises and the organization are as important as the material (content) being presented. This book also copies a good amount of content from other books by the same authors such as the books on C++ and Java. Why the authors keep doing this in all their books is beyond me. I am thinking that publishing houses probably have a requirement for specific formats when these overpriced books are intended to be used as textbooks. It is a market targeted at educational institutions whose primary focus appears to be making it easy for the instructors: easy grading, less work, etc thus promoting higher and higher volumes of students and reducing the effort required by the instructors. This is a lose-lose situation for the students. Not only do they have to pay the ridiculously overpriced textbooks, but also their learning potential is significantly reduced.

It is a great book for a beginner in programing.
It comes with a DVD include Visual Studio 2008. So no need to buy software.

I am taking this course. The explanations in the chapter are excellent. HOWEVER, the exercises in the book have no answers so I cannot even begin to figure out how to solve the programming riddles. What good are exercises if I never see what I am doing wrong so that I can correct it and compare my stupidity to the real solutions. I have no idea where to start and there is not relation between solving a business math problem and arranging a bunch of asterisks on a page in a useless pattern. A solution manual would really help me to see what I am doing wrong so that I could actually improve and LEARN. This is the FIRST course that I have EVER not been able to understand or learn due to the lack of solutions to learn from. Buy something else that actually gives solutions so that you can learn. EVEN my professor expects us to automatically understand and follow everything after reading the book. However, he thinks a 60% drop out rate is normal, too. Although the text is well written , there is NO WAY to apply it to the exercises and to see where I am messing up.

C: How to Program (6th Edition)If you want to get a solid foundation in c/c++ then start with How To Program C 6th ed. The examples, like the books text, are clear and succint but not lacking. At the end of each chapter is a chapter review, practice questions, and programming projects to round out your learning experience. Finally, you won't find incorrect working examples, grammar or spelling mistakes that accompany so many computer science books. ENJOY.

Book came in practically new condition for a great price (about half the bookstore price). Overall, a well worth purchase. Despite there being a strange usage of flies, a good investment for starting learners in C and C++ as it uses minimal CS jargon to explain things and contains useful exercises for practice.

I got this for my Computer Science 1050 class and this book is not good. It gives few practice problems and the ones it does have are poorly written. Also the online access it comes with is a joke, and the directions it gives you to access it are misleading. The overall organization of the book is poor. I would not recommend this book to professors or anyone.

The book was here on time and it was in good condition, a few markings but nothing too bad. very pleased :)