Name: Expert C programming!
ISBN: 9780131774292

Expert C programming!

"This is a very different book on the C language! In an easy, conversational style, Peter van der Linden, of Sun's compiler and OS kernel group, presents dozens of astonishing examples drawn from practical experience, including software that blew up the space probe to Venus; the C bug that shut down the entire AT & T phone system; C programmer job interview secrets; why programmers can't tell Halloween from Christmas day; and the C code for a complete BASIC interpreter." "Expert C Programming reveals the coding techniques used by the best C programmers. It relates C to other languages, and includes an introduction to C++ that can be understood by any programmer without weeks of mind-bending study. Covering both the IBM PC and UNIX systems, it is an entertaining and educational romp through C showing how experts really use it. Expert C Programming is a must read for anyone who wants to learn more about the implementation, practical use, and folklore of C."--Jacket.

What Hacker News says

vmilnerMay 2026

I enjoyed reading Expert C Programming: Deep C Secrets by Peter van der Linden after reading that in the early 90s. Also the C standard from the time and the attached 'Rationale' document https://nvlpubs.nist.gov/nistpubs/Legacy/FIPS/fipspub160.pdf (The rationale is 234 pages in). Also this 1995 book version of the comp.lang.c FAQ https://c-faq.com/book/ and https://c-faq.com/

thread

MomsAVoxellMar 2026

I always find, whenever I loan Peter Van der Lindens’ “Deep C Secrets: Expert C Programming” book to a fellow colleague, I never get it back. For a while I had 10 or so spare copies to hand out as treats, but now I just refer everyone to this PDF:

https://progforperf.github.io/Expert_C_Programming.pdf

If you’re a C programmer, old or new, and haven’t encountered this book: Stop What You Are Doing And Go Read It! It’s amazing.

thread

smingoNov 2025

I got on very well with Van der Linden's Deep C Secrets. It's from 1994, so misses out on the newer versions, but aside from that it's aged well, IMHO.

And good news: it's been open sourced: https://freecomputerbooks.com/Expert-C-Programming-Deep-C-Se... and its well regarded on Hacker News https://hackernewsbooks.com/book/expert-c-programming-deep-c... .

thread

hislazinessJul 2025

Great. I enjoy these kind of articles. My all time favorite book for 'C' is Expert C Programming: Deep C Secrets.

thread

seanhunterApr 2025

Peter van der Linden’s book “Expert C Programming” (which is awesome btw) says that one of them (Kernighan, Richie or maybe Ken Thompson I forget) realised early on that the c compiler had the wrong operator precedence for bit twiddling and unary and boolean operators but “at that stage we had a few thousand lines of C code and thought it would be too disruptive to change it”

thread

sargstuffFeb 2025

Review/look at anything that has an abstraction / implimentation aspect (aka protocols / specifications / design implimentations / public "source material") .

Examine how things are stratified (deterministic vs. context sensitive 'deterministic group(s)' -- and what influences determinism/context sensitivity). aka iso/osi network communications model[4].

Keep in mind K.I.S.S. / occam's rasor philosophies!

--------

a) pick just a single logical plane/level to look at within a design stack. aka -> database & sql; database & hard drive storage; hard drive storage layout (OS vs. drive physical layout & drive storage/reterival (scsi vs. non-scsi api)

a) Any foundations of math class.

b) Simple physics problems with single logical type that be described by math eqation(s). aka no multivariate analysis.

c) "LISP: A Lanaguage For Stratified Design"(1987)[0] by H. Abelson and G. Sussman. (vs. Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs)

d) A "Git" softare repository (where should be separation between OS, main mechanics of program, libraries, "implimentation details", etc)

e) Expert C Programming: Deep C Secrets by P van der Linden

d) Look at comparisons between types of mechanical engineering geers and associated logical groupings & how that'd correspond to electrical engineering boolean logic / pc 'units' aka add-in boards; processor types, gpu,cpu, etc aka rotational to linear motion / find that info on the hard drive disk : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZ-1PQGlrmY

e) picture to excel[1] :

f) design / implimentation of <insert relevant programming language / kernel / system> [2][3]

From Civil Engineering aspect, pouring concrete, logistical decomposition done by determinisic tasks with respect to external/intermal time effects on 'density changes'. aka getting everyting (including mixed concrete) on site before concrete goes from indeterminate/non-finite form to deterministic/final form. (where different material densities of concret make for a more complete manuver than just a move from pt a to point b logisics). aka acutely aware of gravity of situation.

----

[0] : http://dspace.mit.edu/bitstream/handle/1721.1/6064/AIM-986.p...

[1] : picture to excel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UBX2QQHlQ_I

[2] : smalltalk : http://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/512760.512762

[3] : unix file system : http://www.r-5.org/files/books/computers/internals/ifs/Steve...

[4] : network models : https://medium.com/@gwenilorac/understanding-network-models-...

thread