C by Dissection: The Essentials of C Programming

I am the author. I want to say this upfront. This book has been revised in several important ways. If you have edition 3 - dont buy this edition because edition three is still very good. If you have a book on C edition 4 also dont buy this book. If you need to know C and dont this is a favorite. It adds humor to what previously was a well written pedagogically careful text for C programming. It has some wonderful drawings by a friend of the authors John de Pillis. They add humor and emphasize key points.

I have read all of the reviews above. People either hate this book or love it. I teach C programming at a state university and use this book in a series of C class from beginning to advanced.This book is not for the type of person that enjoys the "learn X in 21 days" concept. This is for those who wish to learn the subject in its entirety and understand WHY things work like they do. This book not only gives explainations in detail (such as short circuit evaluations) but it also gives several other options for coding the same solution.This is a book to be studied not skimmed. It can be used a book for beginners and can be carried through advanced topics. If used correctly, it is a GREAT book.

C by Dissection, Third Edition is a great book. It is very easy to understand and provides a lot of information. The dissections of programs and explanations of the various features of the C language are very informative, clear, and consistent, which makes things very understandable and easy to follow. After explaining major features and terms in the chapters, the exercises that follow them let the reader put their newly learned knowledge to practice and further strengthen their coding skills. This book can be useful for both beginners and experienced programmers. Things such as advice on coding style and structured programming, system considerations for code portability, and forewarnings of common programming errors to avoid, help the programmer develop good coding habits and increasing skills. For those who want to learn C++, there is a "Moving to C++" section available at the end of each chapter and near the end of the book, which describe the new features of C++ and how to use them. The appendixes at the very end of the book provide a complete reference of functions and macros in the standard library, communicating with the preprocessor, explanations on bitwise operations, a comparison of ANSI C to Traditional C, and other useful guides. I've had a great learning experience reading this book, and recommend it to anyone who wants to learn C and C++.-DVS01

As a engineer for 20 years who has resisted C for a decade, I can say this book is the only reason I can write decent C programs. Engineers need tools that work and in our business (aerospace) FORTRAN has long been the workhorse language. Its finally changing despite massive resistance. Now, having learned a lot from this excellent book, I no longer fear what I always considered C's ugly syntax.The chapters on strings and pointers, and on input and output (scanf, especially), and on the standard library, are tremendously impressive. I will now gladly read anything these gentlemen write. Bravo!