Understanding C [antikvár]

Preface Understanding C was written to provide an introduction to the C programming language. It is intended both for the beginning C programmer and for the intermediate-level C programmer who wants to know more about C, under UNIX, CP/M, or MS-DOS. A great deal of care has been taken to make the C language, and techniques of programming in C, clear to anyone. But C is seldom a programmer's first language, and it is assumed that the reader is generally familiar with a programming language and with concepts of structured programming. Ample references to BASIC and a few other languages have been made, and some programs have been repeated in BASIC as an aid in the comprehension of C. Understanding C uses a spiral approach to teaching C. Many books take a textbook approach, having the reader learn all of one set of programming concepts (e.g., strings) before starting another set (e.g., variables). This is not one of those books. The most basic elements of each set of concepts are dealt with first. Through a series of small, descriptive programs, the reader's understanding of C is continually expanded. Instead of referring to various "theories of programming," or saving the writing of programs until later in the book, the reader can start programming in the first chapter. You can't learn how to fix a car by merely reading a book, and you can't learn a programming language unless you get in there and use it! By the end of the first chapter, many of the fundamentals of C have been covered, and illustrated with numerous program examples. Each program is carefully dissected and explained in detail to demonstrate the programming principles involved, as well as the fundamentals of C.