K.N. King's Second Edition

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  • Bob Nelson

    K.N. King's Second Edition

    Right next to K&R2 on my bookshelf is _C Programming: A Modern Approach_ by
    Professor K.N. King. The second edition of this book is now available. See
    this URL for details:



    I don't think I'm alone among c.l.c. participants in recommending this book
    (based upon the very good first edition).
  • Robert Gamble

    #2
    Re: K.N. King's Second Edition

    On Apr 30, 11:27 pm, Bob Nelson <bnel...@nelson be.comwrote:
    Right next to K&R2 on my bookshelf is _C Programming: A Modern Approach_ by
    Professor K.N. King. The second edition of this book is now available. See
    this URL for details:
    >

    >
    I don't think I'm alone among c.l.c. participants in recommending this book
    (based upon the very good first edition).
    Having almost finished reading the second edition, I'll go ahead and
    take the opportunity to comment on this book.

    First off, I can honestly say that this is the best book for learning
    C that I have encountered (and I have encountered, and own, many books
    on C). This book is amazingly approachable and accurate, as well as
    thorough and concise. Each chapter ends with a Q&A section with real
    questions and in-depth answers, not contrived surface-level concepts
    that should have been covered in the main text as I have seen with
    certain other books. For example, the chapter on functions ends with
    questions such as "Is it legal to put a function declaration inside
    the body of another function?", and "Why can the first dimension in an
    array parameter be left unspecified, but not the other dimensions?"
    and goes on to provide thoughtful and insightful answers that solidify
    a deeper understanding of the concepts discussed in the text. In
    addition to the Q&A at the end of every chapter, there are also
    "Exercises" and "Programmin g Projects" sections that provide material
    to reinforce the concepts discussed and actually develop decent
    experience solving small but useful problems. The fact that the
    answers to a number of exercises and projects is available on the
    website is great for those learning outside a classroom environment.

    The second edition does away with the "Intro to C++" section,
    something I personally disliked about the first version, and adds
    better coverage of "Internatio nal Support" and "Program Design", areas
    that are sorely missing or poorly covered in many introductory
    texts.

    This second edition covers every aspect of C99 and does a great job of
    pointing out those areas that are new in C99 using a special icon in
    the margin. The main text is littered with helpful forward and back
    references. comp.lang.c regulars will appreciate the fact that this
    book is strictly focused on Standard C and points out implementation-
    defined behavior and platform-specific items. There is an Appendix
    that covers the major differences between C99 and C89 and another that
    covers the differences between C89 and K&R C.

    One of the most amazing aspects about both editions are the relatively
    small number of errors, technical or otherwise. After being available
    for over 10 years, the first edition racked up a total of 32 errata.
    That is pretty amazing considering that the first edition was over 500
    pages and that the majority of the errata are minor typos or words
    printed in the wrong font, etc. The second edition, at over 800
    pages, lives up to the quality of the first edition; after having read
    most of the text I have found 5 errors, all very minor, I can usually
    spot more errors (and more significant ones) in the average C book in
    the first 10 pages.

    Finally I have a single book that I can whole-heartedly recommend to
    anyone desiring to learn C, regardless of previous programming
    experience. It would be difficult to make it through this book
    without coming away with a pretty thorough understanding of the
    language, even experienced programmers could probably learn a thing or
    two by reading this book, I did!

    --
    Robert Gamble

    Comment

    • pereges

      #3
      Re: K.N. King's Second Edition

      Is this book for absolute beginners ? K & R 2 seems to be too terse
      for a beginner. But anyway, I have found that the best way (for me) to
      learn is to write programs, work on projects, refer to the manual,
      discussing with experts etc.

      Comment

      • arnuld

        #4
        Re: K.N. King's Second Edition

        On Wed, 30 Apr 2008 22:54:11 -0700, pereges wrote:
        Is this book for absolute beginners ?
        of course it is. Beginner to C.


        K & R 2 seems to be too terse for a beginner.
        yes, it, too, is for beginners to C but those beginners must have written
        at last 10,000 lines of real-life code in any of other languages before
        they attempt to read K&R2. This is what I have felt since I learned from
        this book.

        But anyway, I have found that the best way (for me) to
        learn is to write programs, work on projects, refer to the manual,
        discussing with experts etc.
        It took me a lot of time before I realized this thing but you
        have 1st understand the Semantics of the language and for that you need a
        book :P. I think K&R2's way is to show you how to solve problems in C
        rather than 1st telling you everything in words and then slowly giving you
        pieces of code to work on. K&R2 does not work like that, authors are quite
        direct, dense and very practical in their approach. You will not find many
        authors who write like this and this is for the good of the reader, I
        think.



        --

        my email ID is @ the above address

        Comment

        • s0suk3@gmail.com

          #5
          Re: K.N. King's Second Edition

          On Apr 30, 10:27 pm, Bob Nelson <bnel...@nelson be.comwrote:
          Right next to K&R2 on my bookshelf is _C Programming: A Modern Approach_ by
          Professor K.N. King. The second edition of this book is now available. See
          this URL for details:
          >

          >
          I don't think I'm alone among c.l.c. participants in recommending this book
          (based upon the very good first edition).
          I have ordered both K&R 2 and the 2nd edition of C Programming: A
          Modern Approach; they should be arriving in a few days. I'm not a
          total novice programmer but I am totally new to C. Which one should I
          learn first?

          Comment

          • Bob Nelson

            #6
            Re: K.N. King's Second Edition

            s0suk3@gmail.co m wrote:
            On Apr 30, 10:27 pm, Bob Nelson <bnel...@nelson be.comwrote:
            >Right next to K&R2 on my bookshelf is _C Programming: A Modern Approach_
            >by Professor K.N. King. The second edition of this book is now available.
            >See this URL for details:
            >>
            >http://knking.com/books/c2/
            >>
            >I don't think I'm alone among c.l.c. participants in recommending this
            >book (based upon the very good first edition).
            >
            I have ordered both K&R 2 and the 2nd edition of C Programming: A
            Modern Approach; they should be arriving in a few days. I'm not a
            total novice programmer but I am totally new to C. Which one should I
            learn first?
            The only point I can add to Robert Gamble's thorough reply is an analogy.
            K&R2 is like the King James version of the Bible and K.N. King's book is
            like the Revised Standard Version. Additionally, K&R2 uses a terse style
            whereas King is more expansive.

            Comment

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