Some Recommended Books

Apart from these excellent notes, there are many C books to choose from. Try to browse a few in your library or bookshop before buying one. Consider the following when selecting a book:

Price:

Can you afford it?

Style:

Is the book aimed at your standard of programming skill? Do you understand the points which the author is trying to make?

Accuracy:

The book should support the ANSI C standard. Check whether it mentions ANSI, and also the date of the "last revision" (Computer technology changes rapidly, printed textbooks don't change at all).

These are two books which I have found very useful.

The C Programming Language
By: Brian W. Kernighan, Dennis M. Ritchie
Publishers: Prentice Hall

This book, by the authors of C and the original UNIX system, gives a full and economical description of the language. It is not cluttered with trivial examples, so will not suit the novice programmer. This book is regarded by many as the `standard' work on the C language.

A Book on C
By: Al Kelley, Ira Pohl
Publishers: Benjamin Cummings

This book gives a good description of C and the UNIX environment. Its style is more tutorial than Kernighan and Ritchie, so it would make a better purchase for the less experienced programmer. Newcomers to programming will find the plentiful examples helpful.

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