Shulou(Shulou.com)06/02 Report--

Learning a technology is not a very simple thing to think, and learning C language is not an easy thing either! It is certainly impossible to learn C language well if you want to learn it well in a short time, but it doesn't take you ten or eight years to master it. Today, the editor will recommend you basic books and skills for basic 0 students!

First, read good books, otherwise you might as well not read them.

The first problem faced by all beginners is how to choose teaching materials. A good beginning is half the success, and choosing an excellent textbook is the key to getting twice the result with half the effort. Unfortunately, the school usually assigns you a poor C language textbook; fortunately, you can choose again.

The famous Professor Tan Haoqiang has published a book C language programming, which is said to have a circulation of more than 4 million. As far as I know, many schools will recommend this book as a C language textbook. Although my name (Tan Haoyu) is only one word different from the professor, I am extremely determined to hack his book. This book is not for computer majors, but for other majors who need to take the computer grade exam. The main disadvantages of this book are: the example program is too unprofessional to teach you the way of thinking that programming should master; the program style is quite bad, which will make you develop the bad habit of scribbling code; and there are too many mistakes. Hundreds of mistakes in this book have been pointed out, including key conceptual errors. Well, I don't want to say too much about this book. If you are interested, you can have a look at Baidu:)

Kernighan and Ritchie's "The C Programming Language" (Chinese translation "C programming language") can be called a classic among the classics, but many of the contents of the old version are outdated and far from the current standard C language, so we must see the latest version, otherwise we might as well not. In addition, even if it is the most classic and authoritative book, there is no way to cover everything, so it is necessary to keep a C language reference manual at hand. The "C language reference Manual" is "C Reference Manual", which is a detailed description of the C language standard, including the details of most C standard library functions. It is the best reference book for the standard C language. By the way, the latest "C programming language" is revised according to the C89 standard, while the "C language reference manual" describes the C99 standard, the two may be somewhat different, it is recommended to follow the C99 standard. There is also a "C and pointer", written quite well, the English name is "Pointers on C", with special emphasis on the importance of pointers, which can be regarded as a feature of this book. However, this book is not very suitable for beginners. If you have ever studied C language and have some basic knowledge of C language but not very solid, then you can try this book. I believe that as long as you understand the pointer, the C language will no longer be mysterious.

If you have finished eating a C language textbook and want to go further, then there are two books you must read. The first is C Traps and Pitfalls (C traps and defects), a very thin pamphlet with very interesting content. It is important to note that this book was written more than 20 years ago, and many of the C language defects mentioned in it have been improved, but it is not a bad thing to be able to understand some history. Then you can challenge Expert C Programming (C expert programming), which, like its name, is quite difficult, and once you have read it carefully and understand it thoroughly, you can feel free to write "proficient in C" on your resume.

Remember one principle: don't read books you don't understand yet. It's a waste of life. If you don't understand, you must be missing some necessary basic knowledge. At this point, you need to carefully analyze what you need to add, and then go to the bookstore to look for books about them. Only when you finish replenishing the basic knowledge and then come back to learn, will you really get twice the result with half the effort.

Second, Unix/Linux or Windows, this is a big problem

Different programming environments will produce programmers who think differently. Windows programmers mostly rely on integrated development environments, such as Visual Studio, while Unix programmers prefer Makefile and the console. Obviously, the integrated development environment is easier to use. To learn C language on Windows, you only need to press a few basic Visutal C++ toolbar buttons to start writing Hello, World! Under Unix, you need some basic knowledge of console operation. Some people may think that the environment of Unix is more concise, but the power of habit is very great, everyone is very familiar with the basic operation of Windows, and it seems a bit uneconomical to install a special Unix system in order to learn the C language.

For a novice who only knows the basic operation of Windows and doesn't even know what DOS is, it is most important to do something interesting and meaningful as soon as possible. Writing a Mini Program in C language is far more interesting than learning ls, cat and other commands, and if we want to focus on C language itself, we have to ignore some things for a while, such as the process of compiling links, how to write Makefile, and so on.

So I suggest that beginners should use VisualC++ 6.0( not VisualC++ .NET) or Dev C++ as the main learning environment, and don't get too involved in using IDE, because you must turn to the Unix environment in the future. Visual C++ is easy to use and intuitive to debug, but its default compiler does not support C standards well, while Dev C++ uses gcc compiler and supports C99 standards well. By the way, many university C language courses still use Turbo C 2.0 as the experimental environment, which is quite undesirable. One reason is that TC 2.0 has little support for C standards, and the other is that the programs compiled by TC 2.0 are 16-bit, which will cause great trouble for understanding 32-bit programs in the future. (of course, things like djgpp can make TC 2.0 compile 32-bit programs. But that's too complicated)

When you finish learning a C language textbook, you must continue to study on the Unix platform. Almost all the advanced C language tutorials are based on the Unix platform (such as "C expert programming"). The process of transformation is painful, and you have to deal with a variety of complex commands, which is completely different from the way you think on the Windows platform, but the pain is worth it. Unix and C are symbiotic, and Unix's way of thinking and habits are more in line with the thinking ways and habits of C language. Under Unix, you can find countless excellent source code for you to read, you can easily view the online manual of a library function, and you can see the best code style.

It boils down to one sentence: for beginners to learn the C language, it is recommended to use the Windows system and the integrated development environment. When you are ready to work towards a "master", please first turn to the Unix platform.

Welcome to subscribe "Shulou Technology Information " to get latest news, interesting things and hot topics in the IT industry, and controls the hottest and latest Internet news, technology news and IT industry trends.