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:
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 an 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.
"Not just clearly written, but fun to read. The tone and style of this text should make this a popular book with professional programmers. However, the tone of this book will make it very popular with undergraduates. Appendix A alone would make the purchase of this book a must. It's filled with great advice."
—Professor Jack Beidler, Chairman, Department of Computer Science, University of Scranton
"So that's why extern char *cp isn't the same as extern char cp. I knew that it didn't work despite their superficial equivalence, but I didn't know why. I also love the job interview test questions on C."
—David S. Platt, Rolling Thunder Computing
"In Expert C Programming, Peter van der Linden combines C language expertise and a subtle sense of humor to deliver a C programming book that stands out from the pack. In a genre too often known for windy, lifeless prose, van der Linden's crisp language, tongue-in-cheek attitude, and real-world examples engage and instruct."
—John Barry, author of Sunburst, Technobabble, and other books
Most C books are filled with dry and boring prose about C syntaxes, libraries, and pointers... until now. Written much like Libe's Life With UNIX book, van der Linden combines comical anecdotes as well as instructional programming tips on C. Informative footnotes on software dogmas, programming challenges, and handy heuristics are give facts, tips and tricks on C programming. Chapter eleven will digress a little into C++ language characteristics such as polymorphism, declarations, inheritances and multiple inheritances. The differences between "K & R" C and ANSI C are deftly explained as well as virtual and cache memory, stack segments under different platforms, and C arrays and pointers. A couple of anecdotes explain the $20 million bug held in the asynchronous I/O library, and the 1962 forced explosion of a $12 million rocket because of an error in programming. At the completion of this book you will not get a cookie, but you will get a Certificate of Merit (which is at the end of chapter 11) for burning the midnight oil studying this stuff. Don't be shocked if you find yourself wanting to read this book instead of having to read it!
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