Obfuscated C and Other Mysteries [Paperback]

Don Libes (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0471578053 | ISBN-13: 978-0471578055 | Publication Date: October 16, 1992 | Edition: 1

Writing functional, understandable programming code just got easier! Written by well-known author and columnist Don Libes, this insightful and at times humorous work takes you through good and bad codes, and helps you understand the differences between them. Through real-world examples, you're shown how to solve a variety of difficult problems you're likely to face. Hard-to-find essays have been reprinted and included. Chapters cover speeding up strcpy, threads, life with static buffers, implementing software timers, keeping track of malloc, variable-sized arrays, tcl (tool command language), and more.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

Writing functional, understandable programming code just got easier! Written by well-known author and columnist Don Libes, this insightful and at times humorous work takes you through good and bad codes, and helps you understand the differences between them. Through real-world examples, you're shown how to solve a variety of difficult problems you're likely to face. Hard-to-find essays have been reprinted and included. Chapters cover speeding up strcpy, threads, life with static buffers, implementing software timers, keeping track of malloc, variable-sized arrays, tcl (tool command language), and more.

Product Details

• Paperback: 432 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (October 16, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471578053
• ISBN-13: 978-0471578055
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 7.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,071,826 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Book to demolish programming language barriers, September 8, 2004

By 

Mosh (Mumbai INDIA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Obfuscated C and Other Mysteries (Paperback)

The OCC code snippets and Don Libes commentary should be
a required reading in any programming class. Unfortunately
It is hard to find.

This book was an relevation, the gems in it
proved that language (C/C++/Java) has nothing to do
with beatiful ideas and the genius of programmers like
Larry Wall (past winners of OCC) and the algorithms
that make a program.

Read this book, and you will never have to join a
'C vs C++ vs Java' discussions, you will be too busy writing
beautiful program, in the tradition of Stallman, Knuth and Wall.
Programs should be beautiful like Poetry.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must read for C-programmers old and new, December 29, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Obfuscated C and Other Mysteries (Paperback)

This book is not only about obfuscated C, as seen in the Obfuscted C Code Contest, although that is certainly a big part of the book. Libes also covers a lot of other ground, that will be a big help in your day-to-day programming.

But that isn't all: Libes actually makes all this hardcore C stuff fun! I burst out laughing many times while reading the book, which (you may have discovered) doesn't happen often, when reading books on programming.

This book is for anyone who thinks that C-programming will one day be recognized as the artform it truly is!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Before there was PvdL, Libes was paving the way..., May 14, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Obfuscated C and Other Mysteries (Paperback)

If you liked the ``butt ugly fish book'' from Peter van der Linden, you'll love Libes! Like _Expert C Programming_, this is an immensely readable book complete with humor and occasional drama. Don't let the ``Obfuscated'' part of the title fool you. The book doesn't dwell excessively on the IOCC nor is it oblique. Libes does an excellent job of turning obfuscation (and mystery) into clarity. It's great _recreational_ reading for C linguists...with recreational meant in the ``re-create'' sense of the word. Hey Don -- how 'bout an update so you can merit a 10 rating?!?