The C Programming Language
Very well known, classic introduction to the C Programming Language. Both a text for learning, a reference, and, to some, the definition of proper C language features and use.
Stats for nerds
246recommend
604mentions
501people
2007–2026years
48% recommend48% neutral4% critical
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
- > Woah, iterating over pointers instead of indexes! […] However, I'm not sure how good an idea that is.
I’d recommend anyone (including the author) wanting to understand C to read K&R’s “The C Programming Language”, which among other things will illustrate how iterating over pointers is idiomatic in C (though not quite in the way the author’s example does it).
- > C is wonderfully simple at times.
Yesterday, I watch a quick video[0] where Matthew Butterick was comparing book sizes and their appeal. “The C Programming Language” was my second programming book (after one about JavaScript 1.x) and I still remember it fondly. Easy to start with (with CodeBlocks on Windows and gcc on Linux) and the concepts were nicely explained. The book were also very nice.
- > As such, there are plenty of "Rust for C Programmers" articles on the internet, but little to no "C for Rust Programmers" articles out there.
[obligatory] The original "C for ... programmers" article that convinced the world to make C as pervasive as it is today is K&R's "The C Programming Language".
I know it's in book form (egad!) and if you download a PDF, it's like 80 pages (double egad!). But it makes for surprisingly light reading.
- The art of electronics is something you keep as a reference. The secret life of circuits is more pedagogical, and reads more like someone kindly explaining stuff instead of sending diagrams and formulas your way.
Other similar book in tone are “The C Programming Language” and the IT Mastery series by Michael Lucas.
I love my reference books, but they’re not usually great for pleasant reading. And books that relies on projects often don’t motivate you on doing said projects. I’d rather something that makes my curiosity grew and make me explore on my own.
- Ah "The C Programming Language" the only programming language book that my feeble mind was able to read all the way to the end and (at least it seemed) understood every single thing!
- "The C Programming Language", by Kernighan and Ritchie.
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