This computer programming text will serve students well both as as a text or as a quick authoritative desk reference. The authors'focus on answering the most common questions asked by beginning students in C computer programming is great. They also spend quite a bit of effort showing the differences among subtle symbology.
Note I think the people who invented C language did a huge injustice to all students of C by being very sloppy with their chosen set of symbols especially for "Pointers" -- which is often used in solving most intermediate and advanced programming problems.
This book tries to get to the root of all the confusion and sloppiness of the orignal inventors and thus end up greatly helping beginning students. Once students overcome all the sloppy terms and symbols carelessly adopted by the original designers then they can begin to enjoy the C langauge and make it do some wonderful things. But the learning curve is typically long and tedious to slowly overcome all the nuances in the language.
Sometimes I even feel that C language should be phased out completely and allow C++ to be the sole langauge for all beginning student computer programmers. But people are reluctant to change anything -- just like the '80's attempt trying to phase out English dimensional sytem with the Metric system.
Again this text understands all the areas of sloppiness that lead often to confusion and then goes to work at clearly explaining them all.
Normally it's a tough job to clear up others confusion but these 2 authors apparently were highly motivated and committed at trying to take a good stab at all inherent problems in communication -- which, in my view, most technical people don't pay enough attention to. They seem to think that after they design some complex system it's someone elses problem to figure out what they designed.
The original designers of C language certainly have caused a lot of unnecessary headaches for many beginning students trying to learn C; and this book focuses on being a Bridge to understanding this shadowy language which, in my view, again should be phased out altogether, or the designers should fix the confusing symbology and often unnecessary cryptic shorthand for almost everything in their C language. Note C was designed when computer memory was [more money] and limited, and the designers got very creative at working under this environment. But did they think about future students trying to learn this often confusing and thus, difficult langauge?
The only suggestion for the book is that the publisher should have used larger font for titles and subtitles and theoretically should have aimed for new page for each subsection. I could never undestand publisher's use of the bottom of a page for major subsection.
G. Jerry Sagliocca, P.E.
Schenectady, New York
