C Programming

JayC5

Hi,

Anyone got any tips on good resources for noobs learning C programming? - web-based, instructional vids, books, anything really. I have 'Head First C' and 'C for Dummies' at the mo. Looking for a crash course of sorts, can't get my head around the basics....

J

jgh_

What is giving you the most trouble?


K&R The C Programming Language is pretty much the best book you'll find for C.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0131103628/lynnallain

JayC5

jgh_ wrote: »

What is giving you the most trouble?

Hi jgh,

Thanks for the reply

Well, I've just started recently and it's just not gelling for me. I can't get my head around loops (do / while / for). I can't figure out an easy way to try and learn C in general. I'm exhausted at this stage, can't seem to get in the zone with it. Everytime I am set a task I blank...

iphy

C is not suite for beginner who has no idea about computer architecture, specific the pointer.
it's better for you start with some c similar language like perl or php. it's easier to lean and debug.

JayC5

iphy wrote: »

C is not suite for beginner who has no idea about computer architecture, specific the pointer.
it's better for you start with some c similar language like perl or php. it's easier to lean and debug.

Cheers iphy,

Unfortunately I have no choice- It's a mandatory module of my course :cool:

J

two wheels good

jgh_ wrote: »

K&R The C Programming Language is pretty much the best book you'll find for C.

K&R is great reference book but I wouldn't recommend it as ideal for a beginner. Check your college library - or public library. They're bound to have some suitable text with plenty of examples and more explanations.

iphy

I think the basic data type and control flow is easy. pointer will be tricky for beginner.(pointer, pointer to pointer, function pointer, pointer to array, pointer to multiple dim array etc)

areyawell

JayC5 wrote: »

Cheers iphy,

Unfortunately I have no choice- It's a mandatory module of my course :cool:

J

Electronic Engineering by any chance? Its the biggest pain in the hole C. Its not the most commonly used language so not as much information on the net as other ones.

U probably have seen this before
http://www.cprogramming.com/tutorial/c-tutorial.html

Also here are a couple of c applications with source code

http://www.vyomworld.com/source/c_projects.asp

jgh_

He seems to be getting stuck on some basics that don't solely apply to C. He could learn how loops and conditionals and things work in really any language, since it works exactly the same way in C.

The only parts in C that are really different would be pointers and memory management. The rest is basically the same as everything else.

Also the lack of OO is different...


Well, you can do OO in C if you're crazy enough.


Maybe try www.codecademy.com for the basics

Sparks

two wheels good wrote: »

K&R is great reference book but I wouldn't recommend it as ideal for a beginner.

I've actually found that it's the only book I've ever read on a computer language that did an excellent job in both roles. Honestly, the book itself is something of a paragon - no other language has a similar book of the same quality associated with it.
It does, however, assume that you know something about computers (but any book that didn't would be a few inches thick...).
K&R's one of the few books I have that lives on my desktop and gets used regularly, and also lives in PDF on every PC I own.

areyawell wrote: »

C. Its not the most commonly used language

Are you kidding?
The only bits of hardware out there that don't have C code used in them are the ones programmed in assembly. The entire world runs on C at one level or another - from your car's computer to every mainframe system for every bank, from space probes to mobile phones to fancy toaster ovens.
Just because it's not the new shiny bauble doesn't mean it's not commonly used (go look up how much COBOL code is out there someday if you want a bad shock).
And that's not even pointing out that C++, ObjC, C#, Java, PHP and a dozen other languages all copied its basic grammar so that if you know C, picking those up becomes a lot easier (though in some cases, like with C++, that can be a disadvantage as you wind up writing C-- instead of C++)

Sparks

jgh_ wrote: »

He seems to be getting stuck on some basics that don't solely apply to C. He could learn how loops and conditionals and things work in really any language, since it works exactly the same way in C.

In which case, I'd suggest Knuth...

Manach

I'm revising C at the moment. I found O'Reilly's "Pragmatic C" 3rdEd a good book, simple yet informative.

jgh_

Sparks wrote: »

In which case, I'd suggest Knuth...

Yes that's a good start

djpbarry

Sparks wrote: »

go look up how much COBOL code is out there someday if you want a bad shock...

Or FORTRAN - fifty-five years later and it's still a staple for intensive computing tasks.

carlmango11

JayC5 wrote: »

Hi,

Anyone got any tips on good resources for noobs learning C programming? - web-based, instructional vids, books, anything really. I have 'Head First C' and 'C for Dummies' at the mo. Looking for a crash course of sorts, can't get my head around the basics....

J

C for Dummies by Dan Gookin? I have that book! - it's how I started programming when I was younger, there used to be a website for it where you could discuss C and the author was a regular poster. Gone now though.

Anyway to answer your question: no, I have no resources.

DublinWriter

jgh_ wrote: »

He seems to be getting stuck on some basics that don't solely apply to C. He could learn how loops and conditionals and things work in really any language, since it works exactly the same way in C.

Maybe pseudo-code would be a better thing to work with initially?