Pointers on C

For those who need an up-to-date ANSI overview of the C programming language, this book would be an excellent introduction. Pointers are usually a stumbling block for those programming C initially, but the author does an excellent job of detailing the use of pointers in this book. The use of pointers dominates the entire book, and after studying it, readers will have a thorough, practical knowledge of how to take advantage of the performance power of C language, due mostly to its use of pointers. For those programming in a commercial/business environment, where coding practices are strictly enforced, this book would be a good desk reference, as the author includes discussion of sound programming practices throughout the book. The book would also serve well those involved in teaching C in the classroom, as it contains many exercises, ranging from very easy to highly advanced. And for those readers frequently facing legacy code in C, such as scientific programmers, the author cites the differences between the older "Kernighan-Ritchie" C, and the more modern ANSI C, the latter being used in the book. These differences are indicated in the margin of the book, and are of an enormous help for those who must take older code and get it to run on more up-to-date compilers. The author also endeavors to organize the C code for those who are going on to study C++ and the accompanying object-oriented approach to programming. In addition, he emphasizes how to write C code so as to make it more portable. For those writing commercial applications in C that must be used on different platforms, this is a very important issue of course. Particularly well-written is the author's discussion on the storage class of a variable, noting, for those such as I who are pre-disposed to using recursion, that the formal parameters to a function cannot be static if recursion is to be supported. The book is full of examples such as this that give readers insight on the workings of C that fit their particular programming style. He does discuss `goto' statements in relation to function scope and in C statement structures, but, thankfully, recommends such statements never be used. He gives an interesting counterexample to those who say that goto statements must be used to break out of nested loops. Also, the author discusses the difference between L- and R-values, and this is not usually included in beginning books on C. Dynamic memory allocation has been at times a somewhat painful aspect of programming in C, but the author shows how to do straightforwardly in the book.Having a book like this that is predominantly about pointers is quite a blessing for those who are inexperienced with them or for more experienced programmers who are still uncomfortable with their use. It is not uncommon these days to have to write programs in one's professional work that involve triple pointers or even quadruple pointers. In addition, for embedded systems programming, the use of pointer arithmeti

Better than Kernighan and Ritchie. Better than Harbison and Steele. Not for beginners to programming in general, but by far the best book for programmers looking to learn the C programming language. The emphasis on pointers is absolutely essential to serious C programming, and this is the only book I know of that is so oriented. You may study K & R or H & S, then go to look at some Linux kernel source and find yourself mystified. Not so with Reek's book. The former books teach pointers to be sure, but the level of detail and examples are insufficient for serious programming. The Reek book fills this void. An outstanding book and very readable as well. Buy it.

This isn't a run-of-the-mill programming book on C. Things like for loops and do-while loops are common among most modern computer languages. This book doesn't try to re-educate the programmer on those things -- although it does take a deeper look at common C topics. This is a book on the advanced features of the C language especially on topics such as pointers to pointers, pointers to functions, and dynamic memory allocation. The author does a great job explaining these advanced concepts by using simple and clear examples. If you want to roll your own system software or hack an operating system written in C (Unix), arm yourself with this book as your language reference. It will save you time and grief. This book ought to be a de rigueur item on any programmer's bookshelf.

This book cleared up all my confusion about C. After spending many hours reading books by Deitel & Deitel and Kelley & Pohl while trying to comprehend the dreaded linked list, this book made this topic completely understandable in less than an hour. At the end of the semester I sold my Deitel & Deitel text book back to the college book store, but Pointers on C will have a permanent spot on my bookshelf.

I had a deadline and I knew very little of C. This book saved my life! The text is very well written and captivating. It contains examples and counter-examples with the most usual trivial mistakes. The title suggests the book is only on pointers, but this is not true. It deals with everything needed to start programming right away. A must-buy book if you want to learn C fast and easy.