Can Novices Jump Directly in C? (Books)

[pete at minster.york.ac.uk]

peregrin at hulaw1.harvard.edu writes:
> 	Can anyone recommend an introduction to programming book that uses C?
> I'm not referring to C-For-Pascal-Programmers etc. kind of books.  I'm aware
> that most introduction to programming books use Pascal, Basic, or Scheme as
> their language, but I haven't seen anybooks that start a novice out directly
> with C.

Although it's not a _complete_ beginner's book one of the best intros
to C must be Kelley & Pohl's ``C By Dissection'' (Benjamin-Cummings, 86
or 87). It explains everything the novice needs to know to get going on
a Unix C environment (dunno if there are other machine-specific
versions) in a detailed and clear fashion. I bought it years ago solely
because because I couldn't find a copy of K&R, or Kelley & Pohl's ``A
Book On C'', but I've since recommended it to several people who wanted
to learn C. It's less advanced than either of these - but pretty good
for novices and not too bad for experienced programmers moving over to
C for the first time.

(besides, if your novices get enthusiastic you can always point them at
something more useful like Harbison & Steele -- or, preferably,
Stroustrup :-))

	Pete Fenelon
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Pete Fenelon		 |JANET:   pete at uk.ac.york.minster
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