C in a Nutshell (In a Nutshell (O'Reilly)) (Paperback)

~ (Author), Tony Crawford (Author)
Key Phrases: standard library functions, multidimensional arrays, general syntax, Contents of the Standard Headers, Conversion of Arithmetic Types, Greenwich Mean Time (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"As with much of the Nutshell series, this book is aimed at the competent programmer who needs a quick reference, not at the beginner. As a teacher of C programming, I had been looking for a reference work which covered the C99 version of the language standard, and did so in a readable format free of omissions and errors. "C in a Nutshell" did not disappoint, and the utility of the standard library reference was a welcome surprise." - Graham Lee, news@UK, June 2006 "This excellent book should have been written years ago." - Paul Hudson, Linux Format, November 2006 - 8/10

Product Description

Learning a language--any language--involves a process wherein you learn to rely less and less on instruction and more increasingly on the aspects of the language you've mastered. Whether you're learning French, Java, or C, at some point you'll set aside the tutorial and attempt to converse on your own. It's not necessary to know every subtle facet of French in order to speak it well, especially if there's a good dictionary available. Likewise, C programmers don't need to memorize every detail of C in order to write good programs. What they need instead is a reliable, comprehensive reference that they can keep nearby. "C in a Nutshell" is that reference.

This long-awaited book is a complete reference to the C programming language and C runtime library. Its purpose is to serve as a convenient, reliable companion in your day-to-day work as a C programmer. C in a Nutshell covers virtually everything you need to program in C, describing all the elements of the language and illustrating their use with numerous examples.

The book is divided into three distinct parts. The first part is a fast-paced description, reminiscent of the classic Kernighan & Ritchie text on which many C programmers cut their teeth. It focuses specifically on the C language and preprocessor directives, including extensions introduced to the ANSI standard in 1999. These topics and others are covered:

Numeric constants

Implicit and explicit type conversions

Expressions and operators

Functions

Fixed-length and variable-length arrays

Pointers

Dynamic memory management

Input and output

The second part of the book is a comprehensive reference to the C runtime library; it includes anoverview of the contents of the standard headers and a description of each standard library function. Part III provides the necessary knowledge of the C programmer's basic tools: the compiler, the make utility, and the debugger. The tools described here are those in the GNU software collection.

"C in a Nutshell" is the perfect companion to K&R, and destined to be the most reached-for reference on your desk.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 600 pages
• Publisher: O'Reilly Media; illustrated edition edition (December 16, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0596006977
• ISBN-13: 978-0596006976
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.1 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #145,478 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a comprehensive reference and much more, December 2, 2007

By	Unknown Comic - See all my reviews

every day there are fewer reasons to purchase computer books. so much documentation is online or included as "man" or "info" pages that reference manuals have almost become extinct. "c in a nutshell" proves there can be real value in a book, even on a topic as "settled" as c. the reference is exhaustive, and there are many examples. but there is more to this book than just a c reference...this book really addresses the entirety of developing with common c tools like gcc and make, as well as adding discussion for memory management, pointers, and other thornier topics. the nice thing is that because the world of c isn't likely to change radically from this point, you can likely get use out of this book for another decade.

13 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent C Reference, September 8, 2006

By	Daniel McKinnon (Tewksbury, MA USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

Chapter Overview

01. C Basics
02. Types
03. Literals
04. Type Conversions
05. Expressions & Operators
06. Statements
07. Functions
08. Arrays
09. Pointers
10. Structures, Unions, and Bit Fields
11. Declarations
12. Dynamic Memory Management
13. Input & Output
14. Preprocessing Directives
15. Standard Headers
16. STL Functions Overview
17. STL Functions in Detail
18. Compiling with GCC
19. Using make to build C programs
20. Debugging with GDB

Book Review

For all new and experienced C programmers, this is an absolute must-buy reference to have at your side! Extremely well-written, laid out in a wise and efficient manner, this book will cover all the basics of C programming like function declarations, logic branches, looping methods, struct creation, etc etc etc. Aside from the basics of creating C programs, you will also learn how to use the GNU compiler, GDB debugger, make files, the whole shebang! Probably my favorite part of this book is the deep analysis of the standard library, so you can eliminate the basics of C programming altogether and avoid re-inventing the wheel when so much has already been done for you!!!

For anyone that is learning or wants to learn how to use C in the best way possible, pick up this book YESTERDAY, you won't regret it!!!

***** HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good supplemental resource, September 21, 2007

By	Alexander T. Esplin "Alex" (Provo, UT USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I'll admit that I'm a fan first and foremost of K&R, but this is a good reference too. It takes a little more time to explain some concepts than K&R, and does it in a way that can increase your learning. So while I wouldn't call this a drop-in replacement for K&R, it is definitely a good additional resource, one that I turn to almost as often as I turn to K&R.