Dennis M. Ritchie (1941–2011)

I have long since given up programming in C when it was by my side every day, but I keep it for three reasons, keep your best memories, keep you worst memories and the fact I could basically do my entire job using the contents of a single book is a bit mind blowing, in the days on StackOverflow, where we reach for an answer from the hive mind, rather than working it out from first principles

I literally stood in line outside a bookstore, waiting for them to open, so that I could buy this book. I love the blurb on the back, referring to the first edition (aka K&R C):

The first edition of this classic book will remain in print as the original definition of the C programming language. It will remain in print until compilers based on the final ANSI Standard for C become universally available to the C programming community.

Wonder what year that finally happened?

Before I forget, in show more addition to writing one of the most important computer language books out there, Brian Kernighan and Dennis Ritchie are fine and decent human beings (RIP, Dennis M. Ritchie). show less

While I understand and appreciate the historical significance of this book, I really don't think it has aged well for the modern programmer. I found it to be a not bad refresher for the C language, but anything beyond that I would try to find another source to learn C. It felt to me that you already needed to know a fairly low level programming language to understand how to do something in C, compared to a modern learner who probably is using C to start learning more lower level ideas. It show more also compares C to languages which aren't in wide use anymore (at least for beginner languages), as well as referencing the C language prior to the ANSI standard (which feels pointless at this point in time.)

Again, I understand its a significant historical book for C, but if someone asked me for recommendations on a beginner textbook for programming or the C language, I wouldn't recommend this one. show less

Basically, it covers just enough to learn C, and no more. I like that approach best. Too verbose and I feel like I’m being patronized. Too spare, and I’m having to look things up elsewhere. There are now better languages for much of the software that people want, but C works well for a lot of basic programs and for some more complex ones. If you need or want to work on those, this book is the place from which to lean the language.