n8643084@unicorn.WWU.EDU (owings matthew) (02/08/90)
For the person who wanted to know some good books for programming the amiga. Inside the Amiga with C is a good book that assumes you already know C and tells you how to program the amigas special functions (windows and everything). It is pretty good. I just got the rom kernal manual: libraries and devices and it seems to be about the same only with better examples and the official way of doing things. For any people desiring to learn C, I would recommend C Primer Plus. I would also like to know what books others would recommend.
ms361@leah.Albany.Edu (Mark Steinberger) (02/08/90)
In article <498@unicorn.WWU.EDU>, n8643084@unicorn.WWU.EDU (owings matthew) writes: > > For any people desiring to learn C, I would recommend C Primer Plus. > I would also like to know what books others would recommend. Kernighan and Ritchie is excellent. --Mark
lphillips@lpami.wimsey.bc.ca (Larry Phillips) (02/08/90)
In <26750@cup.portal.com>, phorgan@cup.portal.com (Patrick John Horgan) writes: >"A Book on C an Introduction to Programming in C" Al Kelly, Ira Pohl > >This book is good for experienced programmers to...it will fill you >in on those strange things you never got around to adding to your >repetoire. I also agree that K&R is good. Both of these books have >new revisions out that cover the ANSII standard C:) This is my opinion only, but 'A Book on C' is without a doubt the worst book I have on any programming language. -larry -- Gallium Aresnide is the technology of the future; always has been, always will be. +-----------------------------------------------------------------------+ | // Larry Phillips | | \X/ lphillips@lpami.wimsey.bc.ca -or- uunet!van-bc!lpami!lphillips | | COMPUSERVE: 76703,4322 -or- 76703.4322@compuserve.com | +-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
dooley@physics.utoronto.ca (Kevin Dooley) (02/08/90)
In <498@unicorn.WWU.EDU> n8643084@unicorn.WWU.EDU (owings matthew) writes: > > For the person who wanted to know some good books for programming the >amiga. Inside the Amiga with C is a good book that assumes you already know C I disagree. This was the first Amiga book that I bought and I found it very disappointing. It gets you far enough to be able to open screens and windows and draw on them and even shows you how to put up menus and gadgets, but then it leaves you high and dry with no idea how to actually use the information that your IDCMP messages contain. Consequently, when it comes time to design that brilliant program you are working on, you have no idea how to get information from the user. This book really had me chasing wild geese until I got smart and bought a copy of Rob Peck's book "Programmers guide to the Amiga" (or something like that). Now THIS is a good book! It includes lots of useful source examples that do useful things. I can't recommend it highly enough. Kevin -- Kevin Dooley UUCP - {uunet,pyramid}!utai!helios.physics!dooley Physics Dept. BITNET - dooley@utorphys U. of Toronto INTERNET - dooley@helios.physics.utoronto.ca
sutherla@qtp.ufl.edu (scott sutherland) (02/09/90)
In article <2502@leah.Albany.Edu> ms361@leah.Albany.Edu (Mark Steinberger) writes: >In article <498@unicorn.WWU.EDU>, n8643084@unicorn.WWU.EDU (owings matthew) writes: >> >> For any people desiring to learn C, I would recommend C Primer Plus. >> I would also like to know what books others would recommend. > >Kernighan and Ritchie is excellent. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ > >--Mark When I first decided to learn C, I was told that this book was the "C bible", so I got a copy (not 2nd ed.). Well, it may be complete, but speaking as a person who went from BASIC to C, it STINKS as a tutorial book from which to learn the language. Stick with the C Primer Plus, or its revised edition (New name, new cover, more examples). I cannot recall the new name. Scott Sutherland sutherla@qtp.ufl.edu After you have mastered the basics of C, the K&R book can be quite helpful.
chymes@fribourg.csmil.umich.edu (Charles Hymes) (02/09/90)
I have Programing the Amiga (in C), Both volumes of Amiga Programers handbook, RKM for 1.3, and the complete origional white set of the Kernal manuals. Throw in the Manx and Lattice C manuals, and ya got a lot of docs. Guess what, I need ALL of them. Programing the Amiga is the only one that even attempted to take a Tutorial approch, and given the complexity of the environment, this is necesary. Programming the Amiga is very limited in scope however. The Amiga Programmers Manuals are great collections of vital info, but they have two critical flaws. First, in any given topic, no information is given on how to program with the functions and structures discribed. Its like tring to learn to drive from your cars shop repair manual. But most damageing to the books, is its complete lack of info on AmigaDos. Without this info, it is impossible to program the amiga to do any meaningful applications. You cant do any real IO, or even know anything about the envireonment your program is running in. The official Docs generaly have the same problems as the Amiga Programers Handbook, but it is much better about real programming information. But still far too little about how to really get things done. The AmigaDos manual is indespenc- able, but unfortuanately, the one I have is for 1.1. All the structures are obsolete. Also, the book is fillws with traps like not discribing the exact parameters of the AmigaDos functions, or its return values. As far as Ive seen, there is no good source of "all you need to know to write real programs on the amiga". Stuff like the fast file system, programming with shell variables, paths, real exec programming, etc can only be obtained by begging those who know to spill there secrets. Not even experience will help, cause if you do it wrong, it just crashes, end of story. Probably the best solution is to get all the stuff from the developers conferences and put it into a reference form. Then get all the reference material, and make a real tutorial on how to program all the aspects of the amiga, and how to put it together in a real program. Hey, they do it for IBM APPLE SUN and such, why not for the Amiga.
phorgan@cup.portal.com (Patrick John Horgan) (02/09/90)
"A Book on C an Introduction to Programming in C" Al Kelly, Ira Pohl This book is good for experienced programmers to...it will fill you in on those strange things you never got around to adding to your repetoire. I also agree that K&R is good. Both of these books have new revisions out that cover the ANSII standard C:) Patrick Horgan phorgan@cup.portal.com
pockrand@umn-cs.cs.umn.edu (Mitch Pockrandt) (02/09/90)
For reference work that is much more helpful than K&R's book, I highly
recommend:
_C:A_Reference_Manual_ by Samual P. Harbison and Guy L.Steele Jr.
(of Tartan Laboratories). Pub:Prentice-Hall.
ISBN: 0-13-109802-0
This includes all that K&R did and goes on to describe the ANSI proposals as
well. (Note: I bought this before K&R's most recent edition, I understand
that they too include ANSI now.) The most beneficial feature of this book
is that the authors took pains to cover what compilers have actually been
doing in addition to what the standards describe. This has helped solve
at least a few compile time problems. It also describes most of the common
run-time libraries found with most compilers.
For a new Amiga C programmer, the following book is worth checking out:
_Inside_The_Amiga_ , John Thomas Berry , Pub:Howard W.Sams (1986)
ISBN:0-672-22468-2
This is a useful tutorial to using C to make use of Intuition, AmigaDos,
drawing functions, sprites, sound, speech, and a little bit about disk
files. This book assumes that you are somewhat familiar with C but by no
means need to be expert at it. It also assumes that you know how to use
your C compiler but otherwise are new to programming on the Amiga.
For a new C programmer, Sams also publishes a book that I found very
useful even though it is written for the IBM PC crowd:
_Microsoft_C_Programming_For_The_IBM_ , Robert Lafore
ISBN: 0-672-22515-8
While it is written to a specific compiler and machine, this book is general
enough to be used on any compiler and machine if you ignore the IBM specific
parts of the text (ROM BIOS, Graphics, keyboard,etc). It presents the
material in a format which is very good for learning the language from
scratch. Some sort of programming skills are assumed by the author.
These books and the Addison-Wesley Amiga reference books have gotten me thru
99% of my C programming on the Amiga. I think they are worth checking into
if you are looking to improve your programming bookshelf and/or need help
with C on the Amiga.
===========================================================================
Mitchell S. Pockrandt - University of Minnesota - Computer Science Dept.
Internet: pockrand@umn-cs.cs.umn.edu
Bitnet : pockrand%umn-cs.cs.umn.edu@UMNACVX.BITNET
===========================================================================
--
===========================================================================
Mitchell S. Pockrandt - Computer Science Dept. - University of Minnesota
Internet: pockrand@umn-cs.cs.umn.edu
Bitnet : pockrand%umn-cs.cs.umn.edu@UMNACVX.BITNETnfs1675@dsacg3.dsac.dla.mil ( Michael S Figg) (02/09/90)
In article <898@orange9.qtp.ufl.edu>, sutherla@qtp.ufl.edu (scott sutherland) writes: > > When I first decided to learn C, I was told that this book was the > "C bible", so I got a copy (not 2nd ed.). Well, it may be complete, but > speaking as a person who went from BASIC to C, it STINKS as a tutorial > book from which to learn the language. Stick with the C Primer Plus, > or its revised edition (New name, new cover, more examples). I cannot > recall the new name. > Kernighan and Ritchie IS the "C" bible. This point isn't really debatable (although that hasn't stopped anyone here before). Although the book mentions that it contains a tutorial, it also mentions that it is not for beginners. It is mainly the primary reference book on the language by two gentleman who know "C" very well :-). Dennis Ritchie wrote the 'C' Language at Bell Labs and Brian Kernighan, I believe also at Bell, has been involved with 'C' and UNIX development from the beginning. Still, I agree that it stinks as a tutorial, particularly if you don't know the principles of lower level programming. I also agree that C Primer Plus is probably the best entry level 'C' tutorial around. For reference books on 'C', Harbison and Steeles' "C: A Reference Manual", also seems very good, but quite similar to K&R. This isn't really a comp.sys.amiga topic is it? Sorry. -- "Could we be the bellwether | Michael Figg DSAC-FSD of major societal shifts?" | DLA Systems Automation Center - Columbus,Oh mfigg@dsacg2.dsac.dla.mil CIS: 73777,360
barrett@jhunix.HCF.JHU.EDU (Dan Barrett) (02/09/90)
>>In article <498@unicorn.WWU.EDU>, n8643084@unicorn.WWU.EDU (owings matthew) writes: >>> For any people desiring to learn C, I would recommend C Primer Plus. >In article <2502@leah.Albany.Edu> ms361@leah.Albany.Edu (Mark Steinberger) writes: >>Kernighan and Ritchie is excellent. In article <898@orange9.qtp.ufl.edu> sutherla@orange9 (scott sutherland) writes: >[K&R] STINKS as a tutorial.... I am teaching a 100-student C programming course at Johns Hopkins. After reviewing about 6 different textbooks, I chose "A Book On C" (2nd edition) by Kelley & Pohl. This edition is BRAND NEW (1990). It's major strengths are: o An easy-to-read, conversational style. o Examples. Most example programs are first presented in their entirety, and then "dissected" line by line, explaining in detail what each line does. The weaknesses: o Bit operations. (Section is lousy, in my opinion, unless you already know bit operations.) Publisher is Benjamin/Cummings. Dan //////////////////////////////////////\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ | Dan Barrett, Department of Computer Science Johns Hopkins University | | INTERNET: barrett@cs.jhu.edu | | | COMPUSERVE: >internet:barrett@cs.jhu.edu | UUCP: barrett@jhunix.UUCP | \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\/////////////////////////////////////
barrett@jhunix.HCF.JHU.EDU (Dan Barrett) (02/11/90)
In article <1119@lpami.wimsey.bc.ca> lphillips@lpami.wimsey.bc.ca (Larry Phillips) writes: >This is my opinion only, but 'A Book on C' is without a doubt the worst book I >have on any programming language. Are you talking about the NEW second edition, January 1990? It has a lot of differences from the original. Dan //////////////////////////////////////\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ | Dan Barrett, Department of Computer Science Johns Hopkins University | | INTERNET: barrett@cs.jhu.edu | | | COMPUSERVE: >internet:barrett@cs.jhu.edu | UUCP: barrett@jhunix.UUCP | \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\/////////////////////////////////////
zebr360@ut-emx.UUCP (Jerry Heyman) (02/13/90)
Having learned C while in graduate school, I had the unfortunate pleasure of using the K&R bible. I say unfortunate because even though C was my fifth computer language, it was sufficiently different that I needed examples of the more complex portions (specifically link-list implementations) that were complete and documented - this was not the source for information. The book I finally used (and continue to use today) is by Ira Pohl, and its title is: A Book on C - currently in its second edition. This book assumes no previous programming knowledge and is full of examples which are then dissected line by line. The author certifies that each program has been successfully compiled (and executed) on a VAX 11/780 running BSD 4.2. I have recommended this book on more than one occasion to co-workers and students. Disclaimer: I have no affiliation with Benjamin Cummings (the publisher), as I am only a happy customer of their products. jerry heyman zebr360@emx.utexas.edu
GWO110%URIACC.BITNET@brownvm.brown.edu (F. Michael Theilig) (02/13/90)
On 8 Feb 90 02:29:02 GMT you said: >In article <498@unicorn.WWU.EDU>, n8643084@unicorn.WWU.EDU (owings matthew) > writes: >> >> For any people desiring to learn C, I would recommend C Primer Plus. >> I would also like to know what books others would recommend. > >Kernighan and Ritchie is excellent. > >--Mark I agree 100% about C Primer Plus and K&R, but I really dislike Inside the Amiga with C. There are many typos and the text is serioulsy tedious. I learned much more from the RKM than from Inside the Amiga. /* F. Michael Theilig GWO110 at URIACC.Bitnet "There is no Dark Side in the Moon, really ... matter of fact it's all dark." */
jet@karazm.tmc.edu (j. eric townsend) (02/18/90)
(Mild flame alert.) In article <898@orange9.qtp.ufl.edu> sutherla@orange9 (scott sutherland) writes: > When I first decided to learn C, I was told that this book was the >"C bible", so I got a copy (not 2nd ed.). Well, it may be complete, but >speaking as a person who went from BASIC to C, it STINKS as a tutorial >book from which to learn the language. Stick with the C Primer Plus, >... >After you have mastered the basics of C, the K&R book can be quite helpful. Hm. Maybe you should learn to program first. The K&R book is excellent as a guide to learning the BNF for C, a language that allows you to write Pascalish or assemblish code as you like. If you want something to teach you how to program in the style that C is good for, try an entry-level Pascal book. (Or maybe one of the Sam's books for C, they're not too bad.) Step 1 in learning a real language: Unlearn all the stupid languages you know. I'm speaking as a convert -- I had to unlearn a *lot* of COBOL. :-) -- J. Eric Townsend University of Houston Dept. of Mathematics jet@karazm.math.uh.edu Skate UNIX(tm).
gilmore@vms.macc.wisc.edu (Neil Gilmore) (02/18/90)
In article <1990Feb18.083802.26571@lavaca.uh.edu>, jet@karazm.tmc.edu (j. eric townsend) writes... >Step 1 in learning a real language: Unlearn all the stupid languages >you know. I'm speaking as a convert -- I had to unlearn a *lot* of COBOL. :-) Not me. I spent too much money learning COBOL to unlearn it. Too bad I never use it, although I have been toying about with the idea of writing a COBOL compiler for 68000 (just as an exercise, you know, something simple). +-----------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Kitakaze Tatsu Raito Neil Gilmore internet:gilmore@macc.wisc.edu | | Jararvellir, MACC, UW-Madison bitnet: gilmore@wiscmac3 | | Middle Kingdom Madison, Wi | +-----------------------------------------------------------------------+