Expert C Programming: Deep C Secrets

Added both to my personal lists! Thank you!

The requirements seem a bit unclear to me, but I'll toss a couple of titles into the ring: The Inmates Are Running the Asylum (Alan Cooper) makes the case that user interfaces can and should be easier to understand. I think in the years since this book was written, there has been much improvement in the UI world overall, but still worth thinking about. Expert C Programming (Deep C Secrets) (Peter van der Linden) goes into some fascinating technical (and historical) tidbits related to C.

(Some of the +below are O'Reilly DRM-free ebooks. Big fan.) Python: +Effective Computation in Physics. Probably the most practical full-environment treatment of Python I've seen. Write, test, package, distribute. Third party libs. Effective Python, Brett Slatkin. Sort of an "N ways to improve your Python." Part of a series edited by Scott Meyers. Getting my C mojo back: I left C/C++ 15 years ago. C++ will likely stay left, but I miss C. +Reading 21st Century C, Ben Klemens. The first half is the development environment, which is great, since there's some new stuff since I left, and lots of stuff I've forgotten or never knew. Rereading Expert C Programming: Deep C Secrets by Van der Linden. The guy's a riot. It's dated but still relevant. The inside baseball stuff on problems seen while working in Sun's compiler group is fascinating. Rereading C Interfaces and Implementations, Hanson. Hoping this will serve as my C version of Large Scale C++ Design by Lakos. Honestly though, the literate programming style of presentation is off-putting. Are we still talking about that?

- The Pragmatic Programmer (Hunt/Thomas) - Computer Architecture - A Quantitative Approach (Hennessy/Patterson) - Expert C Programming - Deep C Secrets (van der Linden) I woud call the Pragmatic Programmer though by far the most influential.

C Primer Plus and Expert C Programming. I wish there was a book similar to the latter that covered C99/11.

I was about 17 when I encountered The Hacker's Dictionary. It hasn't been updated much for years, but I think it would still provide an easy-to-read gateway into the way programmers think and some interesting tidbits of history. Reading or watching Guy Steele's Growing a Language talk could be fun. The Little Schemer could be a good choice. Van der Linden's Expert C Programming covers some serious C topics, but is also generally educational and enjoyable. You could introduce them to Knuth's writings in an easily-digestible way, like maybe having them read and implement the Easter date algorithm in Volume 1. Maybe have them read [excerpts from?] something like Philip and Alex's Guide to Web Publishing and put together a small database web application.

K&R, the definitive reference and Expert C Programming:Deep C Secrets by Peter van der Linden Because the best way to understand a language (and its ups and downs) is from someone who understands that language's compiler.

After K&R, I highly recommend Peter van der Linden's Expert C Programming (http://www.amazon.com/Expert-Programming-Peter-van-Linden/dp... (http://www.amazon.com/Expert-Programming-Peter-van-Linden/dp/0131774298)). It's fun to read (yes, really), and you'll understand the language better for it. C is fairly quirky, and this book helps navigate those quirks. For example, I bet most people who claim to "know" C can neither explain the difference between arrays and pointers, nor clarify where they cannot be used interchangeably. I was lucky to have read that book early on in my days of C, so I actually know the answer.

I second the recommendation of van der Linden's book. It was through that book, along with lots of programming and experimentation, of course, that I finally understood C.

not for learning, but as a reference to keep on your desk when programming in c - harbison + steele http://www.careferencemanual.com/ this is also worth reading once you've got the basics down - http://www.amazon.com/Expert-Programming-Peter-van-Linden/dp... (http://www.amazon.com/Expert-Programming-Peter-van-Linden/dp/0131774298)