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Comments by Instructors and Readers
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Comments by Instructors
I think you have made available the finest
C Programming textbook yet. The fact is last quarter I chose
a book (don't ask why) that was the most despicable waste of
wood pulp I had ever seen. Now I feel like I've won the lottery.
Last year I picked the number one and number four performing
stocks in the San Francisco Bay area and they were the only two
I picked. I'm quite certain I've recognized another winnner.
Congratulations. —Scott Gever, CTIS Division, Foothill
College
Having discovered that by reading your
book carefully I can become famous [by reporting errata], I noted
everything as I went through the rest of it. This was no hardship,
as it's certainly a pleasure to read, but it's still a little
disappointing that the pickings were so slim. ... Great book!
—Jim Clarke, University of Toronto
Let
me commend you on your excellent book which just came across
my desk last week!! The exposition is very elegant (as is the
way that Norton put it together) and thorough - with no hint
of the programming tutorial "how-to" style. The preview
of C++ - and the issues about C failing to manage the desired
opaque client/server interface thoroughly enough - are very nicely
described. I like also the sections on preprocessor directives
and program development. —Kenneth R. Kaplan, Rutgers
University
I have recently received a copy
of your new book C Programming: A Modern Approach. While
I have not read it completely I have been most impressed, it
is as excellent as your Modula-2 book. I really like the exercises
at the end of each chapter, especially the non-programming questions.
—Paul Pospisil, Mount Royal College, Calgary, Alberta,
Canada
As textbook on C, we have earlier used
the Kernighan-Ritchie "bible" (which is also available
in a Swedish translation) but we have also tried a number of
C textbooks over the years. I got ahold of a copy of your "C
programming, a modern approach" this summer and immediately
liked it. This year we use your book for the students of engineering
physics and though we have only completed one-third of the course
I can already say that everybody seem very pleased with it. The
students find it clear and easy to read and me and my collegues
appreciate that it emphasizes a good ("modern") style
of C-programming. —Prof. Orjan Ekeberg, Department of
Numerical Analysis and Computer Science, Royal Institute of Technology,
Stockholm, Sweden
I am on the faculty in Comp
Sci at the University of Toronto, and I have used your C book
in several courses. It is a *wonderful* book. I particularly
like that you explicitly address so many issues that are never
brought up in other books -- "why are there 3 ways to do
this, and how would I choose among them?" and so on. My
students have also loved the book. —Diane Horton, University
of Toronto
The book is perhaps the best book
I have seen in the past 10 years on C programming. —S.
Ravichandran, De Anza Community College
I found
out about your book through www.facultycenter.net. It was a huge
job just finding a book that I could understand. Even though
I've taught microassembler, RPG, and BASIC, I could not understand
the C texts that the usual publishers sent me. Thank you for
a good, solid, logical approach. I've never seen such a well
organized book on any subject.—Karen Moran, Quinebaug
Valley Community College
I would just like
to thank you for your C Programming book. I teach C programming
to 2nd year BSc undergraduates and had spent all last summer
planning the course and trying to find books to recommend. Not
only did yours look one of the best to use, its ordering was
almost exactly the same as I had planned before I had seen your
book. Great minds think alike... or perhaps I aspire to greatness.
The feedback I have so far from other readers of your book is
also very positive.—David Bennett, Department of Mathematics
and Computing, Canterbury Christ Church University College, U.K.
After
careful review of many textbooks for my Programming I course
(CS131) for the spring '03 semester, I have decided to adopt
your book. I find that the book has wonderful examples and the
concepts are clearly written and easy to understand. Many reviews
pointed to your book as one of the best. I agree.—Rich
Huebner, Eastern Nazarene College
Comments by Readers
Although I only up to page 44 at this moment,
my enthusiasm for what I've seen thus far compels me to write
this note. Unless the quality of what I have encountered thus
far suddenly nosedives, I think it is fair to state that you
have indeed written the second book that should be in a C programmer's
library. I must admit that the phrase "destined to be a
classic" [on the back cover] made me skeptical until I began
my very careful sequential reading. Again, barring an unanticipated
drop in quality of content beyond page 44, I concur that you
have indeed authored a classic.
Here are some of the initial things I've
encountered that led to my exceedingly favorable reaction:
1). The bibliography is just the right
size. With the exception of Stroustrup, every one of the books
cited there has the distinction of bearing coffee stains, tattered
bindings, yellow-highlighted text and other evidence of frequent
use in my rather extensive library of books devoted to C. There's
no fluff in there at all and nothing is missing that I consider
essential.
2). Your handling of main()'s
return value (as you know - a litmus test for heretics on c.l.c
[comp.lang.c]) early on in the book is done to perfection. Unlike
a big selling author's approach that really only adds to confusion
later on, you do it exactly the right way.
3). With the possible exception of Plauger,
I don't think I've ever seen a better explanation of exactly
how scanf() works. As I mentioned, I've been carefully reading
from front to back (with the exception of the bibliography) and
if your treatment of scanf()'s inner workings is
typical of things to come, I am going to get a lot out of this
book...even though I am a seasoned C programmer.
... To end this message on a personal note
of praise, I actually skipped watching the television program
"Walker, Texas Ranger" tonight because I found your
book so damned interesting! Having _anything_ divert my attention
from that show (about the only non-sports program I view) is
no small accomplishment. —Bob Nelson
If
I failed to tell you that my comments still stand after the reading
whole book, let this be that notification. I'll also add that
I am now tutoring an individual wishing to learn C. (He already
is adept in assembler for embedded systems.) I told him there
are two must have books to supplement my training: K&R and
King. —Bob Nelson
I am using your C:
A Modern Approach to teach myself the C language. I must
say your book has been very helpful to me. The only language
I really know to any degree of competence is unfortunately RPG/400
on the AS/400 platform, which is what I do for a living. I've
been trying to teach myself C for about a year and have, for
the most part, failed. However I believe I'm on the road to success
using your book. —Don Smar
The book
you made is the best I have ever read. I would recommend it to
anybody who is learning C on his own. —Nicholas Janzen,
The American School of The Hague
I have recently
purchased your book, "C Programming, A Modern Approach",
and am in the process of using it to teach myself C. Although
I am currently only on chapter 4, I would like to congratulate
you on your entertaining and clear writing style. I was at first
a bit surprised at your choice of chapter structuring (we don't
get to loops until chapter 6!), but am finding that simple concepts,
such as printf and scanf, which were
glossed over in other books now are much clearer to me. ... So
far, the book deserves great kudos for its clarity and readability.
(Hopefully it will continue so through the chapter on pointers!)
—Inna Nirenburg
Purchased a copy of
your book today upon the recommendation of someone who responded
to one of my USENET postings. A very clear and concise text!
I am attempting to teach myself the language -- was using Kochan's
book: PROGRAMMING IN ANSI C. which is fairly good (it was a required
text @ DePaul University in Chicago for their Accelerated Programming
School) but lost me when it got into pointers and bit operations.
Looking forward to working through your text. —Greg McNichol
I
finally got my copy of your book "C Programming, A Modern
Approach". I have read through the first one hundred pages
or so and I want to say that I find it very well written. It
is written for someone like me who has limited programming experience
yet contains as much detail as one could require. —Dwight
Reed
I came across the page on your book, and
I wanted to tell you that I really like your C book that we are
using at my school, UC Davis. It's really easy to understand,
especially with all of the examples. —Tim Tully
I
like your book a lot. This is the second time that I have tried
to learn C and I feel that this time I am making real progress.
I particularly like your approach of introducing parts of a topic
and forgoing more complicated aspects of the topic to the Q&A
or to later sections of the book. The books that I previously
used were written by authors who felt compelled to cover every
aspect of a topic within the limits of a chapter. So, for instance,
all aspects of arrays -- no matter how confusing or arcane --
were covered in the chapter entitled "arrays." If I
do get a handle on C, it will be thanks to your efforts. Thanks
for your fine book. —William L. Spitzig
Your
book is a beautiful instrument. And I thank you. —Harry
D. Jeffery
C Programming: A Modern Approach
was without doubt, the best C book I have yet come across. Congratulations!
—Walter Pahk
Some months ago I asked
for help about C programming on comp.lang.c and you answered
to me suggesting your book "C Programming: A Modern Approach."
I have read your book, and now I thank you. Thanks for your suggestion,
and thanks for your book. It's clear, easy to read and understand,
even if my English is poor (as you can see!). I'll recommend
your book to anyone who asks me for the best C book. —Andrea
Riciputi
C Programming: A Modern Approach ...
is a great book and one of my indispensable references at work.
—Chris Jiang
Thank you for your excellent
text on C Programming. I am currently using it to refresh my
C skills and it's one of the most helpful programming books I've
ever used. —J. Collins
Thanks for recommending
your book. Out of the several responses I received from various
people on the newsgroup, your book is far and above the rest.
I am actually beginning to understand C, and I've even been able
to author my first usable program in C. —Rob Snodgrass
I
am currently taking an Introduction to C class through the University's
extension program. The instructor selected your book as the text
for the class, and I could not be happier with his choice. Your
book is simply outstanding - best of breed in my opinion (and
I've flirted casually with quite a few different books on C).
Your writing style is clear, concise, organized and approachable.
You have made the intimidating prospect of learning C much less
so with your thorough, non-presumptuous explanations, and for
that I am grateful. My only regret is that it I did not encounter
your book years ago. Many thanks. —Dave George
May
I finish by congratulating you on such an incisive book. I hope
to order it for class use next year. Already I have been showing
it to students interested in C - my copy is quite coveted! —Eric
O'Donnell
Thanks for your wonderful book -
the best computer book I've ever read. —William Baruch
I'm
busy reading your "C Programming - A Modern Approach"
text book and think it is absolutely great. —Chris Smit
Let me start out by saying that your C book is
one of the best I have ever seen on any programming language.
There is a certain fluidity to your expository style that is
highly uncommon. Going through your book, one clearly gets the
impression that you did not assume that your reader would be
a dolt. In short, you have written intelligently for the intelligent
reader. I'm recommending your book to anyone and everyone who
wants to learn C and that includes my own daughter. —Avi
Kak, Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Purdue
University
I've just started reading your C
Programming book yesterday and I really love it very much. I
really like the Q & A sections. I think your book is the
best! I have never found any C book that is well organized, easy
to read, and has many great examples like yours. —Jimmy
Setyo
I like your book "C Programming
- A Modern Approach" very much and I think it is one of
the very few best C books I have ever seen. —Dar Peng
I
learnt C from your book 'C Programming - A Modern Approach' and
it is the greatest book on programming that I ever read. I loved
the way you quietly gave us the underlying concepts that let
us draw other conclusions from the information. —Motti
Mezei
I would like to thank you for your excellent publication,
C Programming - A Modern Approach. I was introduced to it while
taking a course in C at the Berkeley Extension Center. After
looking at much of the "schlock" that is available,
I found your book to be quite thorough and very well laid out.
—Emil Varona
I am in the process of reading your book and can
sincerely say it is worth the high praise it has received. —"Grassy
Knoll"
I just a copy of your book today
and I am ready to program. I think your style is very informative
and easy to understand. And it's not overloaded, it actually
gives me a challenge to think ahead, before your explanation
follows. —Burk Mayer
I'm writing because this is about the hundreth
time I've wanted to find out about something, looked in the index,
and found it. I'm a first year Comp Sci student, so I don't really
have enough knowledge to comment on the whole book, but it definitely
has the most useful index of any computer related book I've ever
read. Well worth $65 Canadian. Thanks.
P.S. By the way, the index wouldn't be
so nice if it didn't point to decent information. —Tim
Sanderson
I want to compliment you on your
book, C Programming: a Modern Approach. I find it to be the best
expository C book I've encountered. In fact it cleared up alot
of questions I've had about the C language. I would go so far
as to say that it was only after reading your book that I became
a true C programmer. Previously I used K&R, 1st ed., as my
teaching guide. I'm sure you can appreciate what a struggle that
was! However, after my experience with your book, I found that
I actually appreciated the programming examples in K&R (I
now use the 2nd. ed.) and more importantly understood them...
I continue to be amazed at just how thorough your C book is...
The strongest point of your C book for me is Chapter 22 (Input/Output).
I've been really disappointed with other C books which tend to
devote little space to explaining file I/O operations. 'Appendix
D: Standard Library Functions' ... makes your C book an invaluable
reference after mastering the other material. —Timothy
Kallinis
I recently bought a copy of your textbook
"C Programming: A Modern Approach" and the accompanying
Study Guide. Both are excellent. —Dr. Peter Corvi, Lecturer
in Finance, Warwick Business School, The University of Warwick,
United Kingdom
I just wanted to say thank you.
I'm writing "real-world" 'C' code now, and your textbook
is by far the most often used reference I've come across. After
taking your ANSI 'C' continuing Education class, I went out and
purchased all sorts of 'C' reference materials, but your book
is by far the most readable and understandable book I have seen.
Appendix D is worth it's weight in gold. Just the function descriptions
themselves are worth the purchase... Keep up the good work. It
is appreciated. —Scott Davis
I have been using your C book for self-study.
I missed the summer class at UCLA, where I got it, and it has
been EXCELLENT! I am more than one fourth done and I haven't
needed to get help on a single thing yet (I work in QA in a software
co., so there is lots of help). It is great. —Jason Jackson,
Integrated Decision Systems, Los Angeles
I'm enjoying your book. It appears to me (a technical
writer) to be very well written and informative. It's vastly
superior to the other two books I've perused on C. —Mark
Weaver
I really like your book C Programming, a Modern
Approach. I find it very clear and easy to read. That is something
very rare in technical and computer books. I am a computer programming
student at Santa Fe Community College in Gainesville, FL and
I found your book through a friend of a friend who is using your
book in her C class at U of F. Your book on C is saving me in
my C class. I would like to thank you for taking the time to
write such a good book. You must be a very good person. Extraordinarily
good. If others would write textbooks as well as you, the world
would change dramatically. Education could begin. Thanks again.
Bless you and your wonderful work. Continue to do great deeds.
P.S. I passed an open book test in my C
class using your book because I could quickly find what I needed,
that I couldn't find in my required textbooks. —Steve
Littler
Your text ("C Programming -- A
Modern Approach") is a wonderful gift to students of the
C programming language. Thank you for writing it. Unlike most
books about C, yours actually communicates and teaches, and does
both well.
I am taking courses at a local college
(Tunxis, in Farmington, CT) on a variety of computer programming
languages after 20 years of practicing law. C is one of those
languages. Although classes usually are helpful, much of the
learning comes from books and practice programs. So when studying
a language I look for books (in addition to the course's "assigned
text") that can communicate to me and teach me something.
For most languages, there are a variety of such books; but not
for C. Most books on C seem to be written by people who, although
I am sure they are expert at C, seem to lack much ability either
to communicate or to teach, or both.
A good teaching text must communicate or
foster *understanding* in the student. That requires a lot more
than just accurately writing language rules or making statements
that are true. In other words, this requires a lot more than
just providing accurate data. It requires among other things
that the author address what is and is not going through the
student's mind, things that cause confusion, things that impede
understanding, etc. The author of a good teaching text must write
what is necessary to convey actual comprehension to the student.
Ideally, the book will help the student achieve some "Eureka!
I got it!" moments. Your book does those things quite well.
It actually teaches, and with a somewhat conversational and slightly
humorous tone. But it actually gets the concepts across.
The texbook used for my course in C is
very poor in these regards. I had searched in vain for a good
"teaching" book. I bought several that I thought were
the best of a bad lot; I was desperate, as C is not intuitive
or easy for me. Then my daughter, who at the same time was taking
a course in C at the University of Maryland, brought home her
textbook (yours) over the Thanksgiving break. In my quest to
find a decent C text, I looked at hers. It took about two minutes
for me to realize how good your book is, and I now own a copy.
Unlike novelists, textbook authors don't
get enough credit when they do an outstanding job. Your book
is superb, top notch. And it must be difficult to do that with
C, because many other C text authors seem to have been unable
to do it with anywhere near the success you have. You are in
league by yourself. If you teach classes with the same ability
that you write about C, your students are very lucky indeed (even
if most may not realize it). Again, thank you for writing that
book. Your efforts are appreciated. —Richard Garrison
After
having tried so many books to learn the C programming language,
I am pleased to say that your book is the best. I've used Learn
C in 24 hours and Teach Yourself C in 21 Days, both with minimal
results. I have been cracking away at learning C for the past
month or two. Finally as a fluke while sitting in a bookstore
I discovered your book. I've only read about 2 chapters and I
can finally say "I understand what I'm reading." Your
spiral approach to teaching C is very helpful. Coming away from
reading the book and discovering that I understand what I just
read is a great feeling.
I am in the unfortunate position that if
I want to learn a new programming language or any programming
for that matter I have to do it on my own time. I work full time
and financially am not in position to learn C in a classroom
environment. So as a self taught student I find your book gives
me my dollar's worth. I really can understand C and even things
that are in C, that are used by other languages.
I really do appreciate the great book you
wrote and all the time you put into it. I will put as much time
as I can into learning what I can from it. I thank you once again.
My only wish is that I could have had you for a teacher, though
your book is the next best thing. —Jason Smith
I'm
a Computer Science/Engineering student at the University of Connecticut.
I'm currently finishing my Junior year. I'm writing to compliment
you on your book "C Programming : A Modern Approach".
I must admit, my compliment is rather tardy as I've had the book
for over three years now (since I was a freshman, C was used
as the second programming language, Pascal was the first). What
prompted me to take the book off of the shelf was that I'm now
taking a class on compiler theory, in which the term project
is to develop the forward end of a compiler. We are allowed to
choose whichever language we wish to write the compiler, as well
as whichever language we wish to translate. I've chosen to write
a C compiler in Java. Therefore, I've taken out your book again
and begun to refresh on C. With the benefit of my experiences
since freshman year, I'm truly impressed with the quality of
your book; I've found it rather rare to have a good textbook
on programming! Congratulations! —Andrew Miner
I'm
almost done scanning the book for the first time. As I had hoped,
many secrets have been revealed. Better yet, there is much advice
that will help my programming in **any** language. (I've worked
with Perl, mostly. There are many references to C in Larry Wall's
'Camel' book that make sense now.) Thanks for this excellent
work.—Mark Krautheim, GE Aircraft Engines, North Clarendon,
Vermont
King covers the C language in ordinary English,
which allows the book to be an easily comprehensible and reliable
source. I really enjoy reading his book.—Alexander Forero
I love C: A Modern Approach. I've recommended
it to many people and I'm on my fourth time through it right
now. I've used it so much it's falling apart!—John Babich
I
just wanted to let you know that your books "C Programming:
A Modern Approach" and "Java Programming: From the
Beginning" are phenomenally great. Your style of explaining
things is simply the best. Keep up the outstanding work.—Dr.
Jeffry Padin, The Aerospace Corporation
We
used your book for the Programming I course at our university
(University of Central Oklahoma, Edmond). The book is very well
written! If I have to pick one feature over all the others that
I like about the book it would definitely be the Q&A section
at the end of each chapter. I also love the epigrams at the beginning
of each chapter.—Amar Gunda
I wanted
to write you to say thank you for your book, "C: A Modern
Approach." Within the past 10 months, I've developed a growing
interest in programming and have been trying to self educate
myself. Although I had heard it was a difficult language to learn
and master, I thought I'd try my hand at C. I purchased K&R2
and some others that I had heard were good beginner's books for
C. While I have to admit that I've tried using these other books
while carrying a full-time work schedule and a full-time academic
schedule, I found the material to not be quite helpful enough.
I picked your book off my shelf (I had purchased it nearly a
month ago now) yesterday afternoon and am about to finish Chapter
Four and can't wait to jump in to some of the more detailed material.
I find myself reading it while waiting for stop lights to change.
Whatever you have done with this book, please keep it up. I'm
eventually going to make my way to Java and, although I already
have the Sun Java tutorial book, I will be purchasing a copy
of your Java book as soon as I feel comfortable with my C abilities.
Again, thank you much. I believe with the impetus I've gained
from reading your book, someday I may be able to actually sit
down and write some usable C. —Tony Yelacic
I
am currently working my way through your excellent book "C
Programming: A Modern Approach." It is by far the best I
have tried to date. "Learn C in 21 Days" appears to
teaching much non-ANSI C in a style that many far more knowledgeable
than I (alt.comp.lang.learn.c-c++, comp.lang.c) disapprove of.
I finished it but realise there are large gaps/misconceptions
in my knowledge. K&R2 lost me fairly quickly. That's when
I turned to your book.—Paul Rees
This
is the book I normally recommend when people express interest
in learning C, or learning more about C if they already use it.—Peter
Seebach
As a 38-year-old computer science student
at a Massachusetts college, I absolutely love your book C Programming:
A Modern Approach. I found the book to be quite informative,
and along with the study guide, both are exceptional. I look
forward to my first object-oriented class this summer, and because
of your books, I am prepared to do so.—Brian Scheufele
Just
thought I'd let you know that we're using your C Programming:
A Modern Approach as a textbook in two of the computing courses
at the University of Missouri - St. Louis (and I enjoy the book
a lot!).—Bryan Cool
I am a student
at Brooklyn College who is currently enrolled in a CIS class.
We are using your book, C Programming: A Modern Approach. I happen
to like the book very much, the way you explain things is very
easily understood and non-threatening, you have a good sense
of humor. Thank you very much for the user friendly book.—Carol
Chin
Your book is the best C textbook I have!
This and K&R are the perfect C learning combination!—Kevin
Davis Sr.
They say one should not judge a
book by its cover, but in this case however I believe the judgment
would be correct. C Programming: A Modern Approach is without
doubt the best book I have read. Somehow you have managed to
make it very easy to read — and in fact pleasant to read.
You have a great talent for teaching and writing, thanks for
using it.—Marius Aursnes
I enjoyed
your book "C Programming: A Modern Approach." This
is the best book I ever read. Thanks for such a good book. In
fact, I never showed so much passion to any book other than "The
Dilbert Future" until I read yours.—Wong Hoi
Your
book C Programming A Modern Approach is the best one I have ever
read (I have, already, read many books on C). You can, also,
add that you are one of very few authors who answers their reader's
questions and comments. My experience with most of the authors
is "very sad".—J.Veichselfish
I
just wanted to tell you that your book is a wonderful change
from the typical book on programming. I simultaneously had two
friends tell me that yours is the one to read to learn C—and
this is after I read the O'Reilly book and K&R. Your book
covers everything with an amazingly concise clarity—while
being advanced enough to give insights into the deeper issues.
It is a wonderful jumping off point for a project I'm working
on with wireless cards and Linux—meaning lots of device
driver code and kernel code. I can actually look through this
code and slowly but surely understand it! Thanks for the book!
Keep writing them...—Mike Biglan |
