Customer Reviews

Expert C Programming

5 star:		(65)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

This book exposes many C programming language obscurities - particularly related to pointers, memory usage, and compiling. All of these things are things that you need in order to become an advanced C programmer.

This book is full of little nuggets. I keep it by my desk, and when I have a free moment, I turn to a page at random and read the section that catches my eye. It is a great way to learn something new or reinforce something you know.

If you are looking for a "bag of tricks" book with canned routines, this is not the book for you. For a good bag of tricks, check out "Mastering Algorithms with C," ISBN 1-56592-453-3.

This title has been sitting on my shelf for years, but for some reason I decided to start flipping through it the other day. It's sad to admit this, but I couldn't put it down! I really wish I had taken the time to read this years ago.

In a reasonably short title, this book covers more about the nooks and crannies of C than almost any other book I have come across -- and does it in a way that keeps the reader's attention. Subtle aspects of the language are presented in detail and accompanied by interesting stories and suggestions (called "Handy Heuristics" in the book) for improving your own code.

The book then steps a bit outside of the language to explain (briefly) how linkers work and how executable are structured. This information helps to round out the language specific material and is something you won't find in too many other places.

The only downside to this title is that the information is probably a bit dated and somewhat Sun specific. However, I wouldn't let either of these items prevent you from adding this to your software development collection.

A short aside on the author - Peter van der Linden is probably one of the better technical writers out there. Both this book and "Just Java" are a pleasure to read. He's also a good public speaker, if you get a chance to see him in the valley.

Where this book stands out is its lucid explanations of "under the hood" material. What really happens when your program is loaded in? Why aren't pointers and arrays the same? (Bet you thought they were.) This book explains it all.

The section on interview questions is required reading for interviewers and interviewees alike.

In short, a great book. My dog-eared copy has been handed around the office so many times that I had to take it back and force everyone else to get their own copy (which they quickly did).

Only one minor gripe - there are a number of typos in the printing I have. Peter is VERY good about posting errata on his website however, so I can't let this detract from my 5 star rating.

Ok, this is in answer to another review. First, I don't think this book was meant for the 20 yr pro. I know the title implies that but honestly I think it was meant for the beginner/slightly experienced programer. Anybody who has read K&R thru and thru should probably skip this book if your looking for more ways to improve your coding practices. Honestly I don't think you would gain that much from it. I would though suggest reading it for the humor.
=)
And here is where I part with that reviewer. I find most of the humor to be both comprehensible and more to the point, funny. It does take a slightly twisted way at looking at the world. Most of the "wasted" paragraphs etc. are not actually wasted, if you're a mid lvl or beginner programer. Even some with experience can get some use out of this book. I do agree that this is probably a 3rd or 4th book for coders. As to the char** not being the same as const char**, just read it VERY carefully, after a bit you will understand. Though I do agree that the author could have been a bit clearer on that an a few other explanations.

I actually liked the varied topics, this book wasn't meant to be a reference encyclopedia nor a indepth analysis of some specific topic. AND personally I am tired of dry books. Which btw, this particular author has been just as guilty as most other computer book authors. Try his Java book and you will see what I mean.

This is an interesting book. It is unlike any other C programming book I have ever read. The book should have been called "A dated cornucopia of tips, tricks, problems, good, bad and ugly things about the C programming Languge."

Most of what the author has said is known to most professional programmers. But, it would definitely be an interesting read if you are new to the world of programming. Most of what the author says is still valid on most contemporary systems, especially if you ignore the oft references to DOS.

I believe a new C programmer should read this as his/her second/third book, just to feel confident among the pros. But, I wouldn't rate it as a must read.

Here are some of the problems with the book:

* too much stupid humor. And in more cases than not, the jokes don't even make you laugh!

* a hodge-podge of topics

* the presentation is not consistent. The author presents problems with pointers, then presents a section on casting, throws around a few programs from the popular IOCCC to impress the kids, then jumps back to pointers, and everything else on Earth.

* the author tries to make a case that C's operator precedence is broken! K&R said that ages back! The author wastes a lot of time lambasting the C standardization commitee! The author wastes quite a few paragraphs quoting sections from the ANSI std.

* the author does not explain anything clearly! Why is a char** not the same as a const char** is never explained! But, the fact is stated and a bogus explanation with useless stories is given over pages and pages.

So, I think this is a decent book, but, if you read K&R thoroughly, and/or implement/maintain enough C software you would know most of these things.

I wouldn't rate this book as a must read, but if you are still a student, and have a week to spare, then make it your second/thrid C book.

As the name implies, this book in not a tutorial or an introduction to C. It is for people that already know C and know it well. No matter how much you know about C, this book will teach you something new. Peter has been working at Sun writing C compilers and using C for years so he really knows what he is talking about. He covers using C in both a UNIX and PC environment. Peter exposes a lot of the shortcoming of C and problems you should watch out for such as incorrect operator presidencies, falling through case statements, and how arrays and pointers are NOT the same. The book also has a lot of great history about C including stories like the "software that blew up the space probe to Venus" and "The C bug that shut down the entire AT&T phone system."

One of the things I like best about this book is the authors style and sense of humor. Here is a quote from the author on this subject. "Few authors convey the idea that anyone might enjoy programming. All the wonderment was squeezed out by long boring passages of prose. Useful perhaps, if you can stay awake long enough to read it. But programming isn't like that. Programming is a marvelous, vital, challenging activity, and books on programming should brim over with enthusiasm for it."

In addition to all the talk about C, there is also one chapter about C++ which gives you brief introduction to OOP concepts, terminology, and how it is all used is C++. Not only does Peter teach you how to use these things, he also explains how the compiler implements them. He, then goes on to explain the answer to the question, "Just what is a protected abstract virtual base pure virtual private destuctor, and when was the last time you needed one."

This book is great for anyone hat knows a lot about C but want to know it all.

is this a bestselling novel? this got to be one of the most entertaining technical book ever! heck, i bought it only to enjoy the humorous sections of the book. i like the funny stories at each section which greatly alleviates the "pain" of reading usual C programming books. the interview section is worth the price of the book. great technical writing demonstrated throughout the book. buy it!

Technical content: This book, as the title says, is for the advanced C programmer who has done his share of C programming. This book brings together in one place, clarification of the most difficult aspects of C programming, that too with such clarity and punch not achieved before. The book as a whole is a masterpiece, but the chapters that really stand out are the one on declarations, two on arrays, one on pointers, and ofcourse the appendix on interview strength questions. The C declarations chapter is an absolute jem. He gives a flow-chart that can help in unscrambling complicated declarations, and this approach works better than any other that I have seen. (It is just a cleverly presented version of the algorithm that compilers use to unscramble them). Quite naturally, he has quite a bit to say on pointers, arrays and memory related stuff (including a brief discussion of the feared Seg. Fault and Bus Error). The book is worth its price purely for its technical merit

Writing Style: But there is more to this book! Van der Linden comes through as an accomplished writer - mixing wit and wisdom so seamlessly and naturally, that it reads like a novel. The book is peppered with C and other trivia that keep one entertained through some of the boring sections on the linker and such. This aspect of his writing is very important because this is what keeps your interest while you give the book your first reading and bookmark the reference material. Programming is clearly his passion and his enthusiasm is extremely infectious. The style of his writing and his choice of anecdotes is sure to strike a special chord with geeks.

Marketing/appearance of the book : Enough said about the contents of the book; now to stuff about the book that you should not really be bothered about, but you still will be. First of all the packaging of the book truly sucks. I was absolutely revolted when I first saw an image of the cover on amazon. SunSoft needs to learn a thing or two about these matters from O'Reilly. Their crisp fonts and pleasing covers significantly contribute to continued success. None of this should matter in theory, but anyone who understands human nature knows that it sure as hell does. And then there is the "impressions" on the back cover. (I am not sure of the technical word for it. I am referring to the endorsements that usually appear on back covers of books). The words of "Professor Jack Beidler", and "David S. Platt" do not carry much weight with an audience they are targetting. (Do not get me wrong, I have read David's columns on byte.com and stuff, but what is needed is a name that would be better recognized in the C-programming community like P. J. Plauger - someone who's competence is more readily accepted)

In summary, this is a must-have book for C programmers.

This book helps you on the way of becoming an expert on the C programming language, it is not much help for the purpose of becoming an expert on programming in C.

What's the difference? Well, on the dimension from language lawyer to poet, this book falls more on the lawyerish side. In the same way that grammatically correct sentences in a natural language are rarely great poetry, so correct C programs are not necessarily great programs. Correctness is necessary, yes, but hardly sufficient.

Van der Linden has little to say (or if he has, he doesn't tell) about topics such as good style at a small scale and doesn't at all touch how to structure programs at the large scale. Things like how to avoid name clashes, structure header files, handle errors, avoid resource leaks.

The C programming language is still very much alive, and as far as I can tell, the place on the shelf for a book on C Patterns & Idioms is still vacant, waiting to be filled.

Every C programmer should own a copy of this book. If you read it cover to cover and actually take time to understand any topic which you don't already know, then you will be a much better C programmer. This book is not for beginners or anyone who has never seen C.

My only complaint is that it is a litte out of date (no mention of C99 for example), but this is not enough to keep me from giving the book top marks. I wish the author (or atleast the publisher) would do a new edition.