Rating: 
Summary: An absolutely superb book essential for C greenhorns !
Review: C for dummies volume 1 and 2 are just great books teaching C ! Dan Gookin is the indeed the best author on C for beginners around ! His two books go at a relaxed pace, introducing concepts one by one gradually. His books display source code, explains the code and concepts and gives readers a sample output of the source code. As a result of the superb layout and organization of the book with Gookin's great explanations and jokes, I have learnt the basics of C without too much trouble and am going to start on intermediate topics. Thanks Dan ! Your books are great! I will highly recommend all C novices to buy these two books and just ignore the rest !
Rating:
Summary: I C now!
Review: I am not a programmer....yet! I do not depend on my programming skills in C to make a living on but I do have an interest in it since the language is very popular. I have picked up many beginner books on C programming, only to be disappointed and confused. This book helped me understand C programming by covering all the small details of a C program. If you want to learn C programming from the beginning, this is a great book to start with.
Rating:
Summary: Great
Review: That's funny, clear, and easy. The best!
Rating:
Summary: This book is just the best C programming books that exist.
Review: If you want to learn C, this is the one book to buy. If you get stranded on a desert island and have nothing but a C compiler, this is the book for you. Seriously, if you have been looking to learn C but don't know which to buy, BUY THIS ONE! I went through 3 other beginners C books and I couldn't understand them, this one I went through in a week and I loved it. If you buy the book and do not like it, then you might not have a sense of humor, lots of jokes in the book. I just wish Dan would write books on Java and C++. The book is funny and very easy to understand, the perfect book for the person who knows nothing about programming. Dan, you rock.
Rating: 
Summary: C programming for dummies
Review: I am a student in college and have taken intro to C twice, the first time I took it, I didn't do so well, so I took it again, I am now in Advance C but I'm still having a problem in understanding. I bought both C for dummies and have read bits and pieces, I am beginning to understand what the teacher is telling me. I very glad I bought them. I even tried some of the programs to see how they work. I'm happy that it makes sense now.
Rating:
Summary: Just a clarification
Review: (five stars because I couldn't give it more) This set of books is THE way to learn C programming. A guy a few reviews back claimed volume II was useless because he couldn't understand pointers. I don't know about him, but the chapter on pointers was one of the best written in the book. It was a little lacking on the humor side, but it explained pointers -- one of the most complicated aspects of c -- in a very easy to understand way. Granted, the topic of pointers is more advanced than what was covered in volume I, but that's why it's in volume II.Honestly, if you can't understand the concept of pointers as explained in this book, you will not learn it from any book. Maybe the guy who wrote that review should go ask someone who knows what they're doing to explain it to him. On a final note, after you've finished this book, if you want to continue your programming career, pick up an advanced C book. I'ver heard very good things about The [ANSI] C Programming Language by K & R; it would be a good place to start.
Rating:
Summary: Your first programming book should be
Review: If you are new to computer programming and or the C language, C for dummies is the book for you. Dan Gookin has a way of making sense out of programming that no other author was able to show me. Dan's humor and style make learning fun. I cant wait to start the next volume.
Rating:
Summary: Absolutely enlightening!
Review: Prior to reading Dan Gookin's book, I tried several other tomes in my numerous attempt to conquer this great language. However, this was the only book that didn't put me to sleep with all the tecno-babbles that the C guru's love to dispense while writing introductory books on this great language. I think Dan Gookin is one of the few authors who have a clue as to what does it take for average people with average intelligence to learn something as complicated and dry as the C language. Not only does he come down to your level and uses snippets of program codes that most programmers use one way or another, he makes the entire learning process amazingly painless and keeps you entertained with his very effective humourous style. This is a book (along with volume I) that someone with absolutely no C programming experience can pick up and start writing C programs in no time. Don't get me wrong. This is not the book that's going to make you a C guru or help you to secure a job as a programmer (at least not right away). But there's enough materials in this book to get you started in the right direction. I think Dan Gookin is one of the premier authors of technical books and more publishing companies should seek his service to fully take advantage of his rare gift of writing. In his web site, Dan Gookin wrote that IDG publications is unwilling to publish a third volume of his C masterpiece because the second volume didn't sell as well as they expected. Well, I think Mr. Gooking should have little difficulty finding another publisher given the previous two volumes' near classic status. I wholeheartedly recommend this book to anyone interested in venturing into the world of C with little or no prior programming experience. This is the only book in the market (from what I've seen so far) that truly addresses the need of the absolute novices. No beginning C programmer should be without this rare-of-a kind gem.
Rating: 
Summary: Dan Gookin needs to revise certain things in this book.
Review: Dan Gookin has written an excellent Volume 1. It explains everything in a very easy-to-understand manner. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said about his second volume. Upon opening the second volume, I was anxious to learn more C in the easy way that Mr. Gookin teaches these topics. I was perfectly fine until he reached the topic of Pointers. I felt that this was the most poorly explained topic in either of the books. It was like I was trying to read a Microsoft manual or something. =) The rest of the book builds on this topic, so the rest of the book is basically useless. I would recommend you find another source to go onto instead of volume 2 after the completion of the first book.
Rating:
Summary: If a 13 year old teen can learn C, anyone can!
Review: If you want to learn how to program C, but don't know anything about programming, that's alright. This is the ONLY book that takes you from complete computer ignoramus to an intermediate programmer! Get it now!
|
