C: The Complete Reference, (Book/CD Package)

Rating:
Summary: Acceptable - barely
Review: After purchasing three books written by Herbert Schildt, I have to conclude that I am not a fan of this authors' work. While his efforts yield a lot of information, often the book is heavily unorganized and suffers from absence of often basic-yet-critical information.

Rating:
Summary: Best for a Entry/Middle level C programmer,
Review: As a C fan, i found this book good for an entry level/middle level C programmer.I do agree that the book has few errors but it is worth the money u invest.If u r a C beginner i will recommend u go for this book.Mind u Herbert Schildt is the best for C/C++.

Rating:
Summary: If I could have only one book on C this would be it!
Review: As a computer science major at UCO, I have spent a greatdeal of time in libraries, bookstores, and on the weblooking for material on the C launguage to help me with my programming assignments. Schildt's book, C The Complete Reference 3e, is THE book I refer to most often. Schildt clearly explains topics such as: data structures, linked lists, stacks, queues, and gives code examples for virtually every keyword in the launguage! If you want to learn C or expand your knowledge of it, you MUST get this book!

Rating:
Summary: Best C Reference
Review: As the title says "The Complete Reference". Although not a tutorial book, if you are looking for a reference that answers, "How do i do something in C?" this book is the best that I have found.

Rating:
Summary: Best C Reference
Review: As the title says "The Complete Reference". Although not a tutorial book, if you are looking for a reference that answers, "How do i do something in C?" this book is the best that I have found.

Rating:
Summary: The title speaks for itself: Complete Reference
Review: Before buying this book, I hesitated because of the negative feedback. I own Java2 5th Ed. from Schildt, and I though a book in C would be good too. After reading the entire C fourth Edition I came with the following impression: I wish I had found this book before!. It is designed for engineer-type guys: People who wnats to read, what they need. It doesn't go for pages on silly explanations, nor it circles around topics. It doesn't even say things like: "to find out more about linked lists, go to page 310".... I hate those!. It is just that: a Complete reference. I guess people who is an absolute beginner will find it a little bit more advance (try getting one of those "Learning C in X days" books). If you know something about C, but are not an expert. This is the best reference for you when you need to quickly code something. Of course, it won't be usefull if you want to write a millions of lines program, or something extremely complex. If you need a reference for the C standard Library, this is it. Don't expect it to be an advanced book on Networking, or Real Time processing... it is just a book for Standrad C.

Rating:
Summary: A Really Well Written Book on C
Review: C The Complete Reference is one of the best books available in market for C language. Good cover of concepts,good examples and explanations.This book offers you everything you need to be a good programmer using C language. Izmir Institute of Technology has chosen this book as a reference for all classes related in computers and programming languages.

Rating:
Summary: A Tutorial, NOT a Reference
Review: Having come across Schild's book when starting out as a programmer Ibelieved it to be one of the best I've read. In this respect it isvery good for a beginner, but searching now for a reference manual(I've misplaced the misnomer: "C, A Complete Reference") as amore experienced programmer I realise this is really atutorial.

Comparing it against other C reference books I now see thedeficiencies. Schild's book tries to be all things to all men:

oOoTutorial: A very chatty manner as it leads you through the workings ofeach area, I like the description of "make", albeit brief.

oOoReference manual: It covers most of the C language, but there isincomplete coverage of the C language (eg errno, and bzero).

oOoAlgorithm book: It describes the use of Artificial Intelligence, butthis is such a huge area it only wets the appetite. A readerattracted by these areas would better off buying a book whichconcentrates on these areas specifically and in greater depth.

I wasdisappointed to discover the third edition of this book had the C++overview removed. The new section, "a C interpreter", which Isuspect is to pad out the book after removing the useful chapters fromprevious editions is practically useless. It would have been betterto write something similar to Steel's coverage of writing 'clean C'where a C program runs in a C++ environment to distinguish theconflict areas between C and C++.

Another failing of Schild's bookis the all too brief coverage of some areas summarised with the copout "consult your manufacturer's manual for details".

In theformat of a good reference book, Schild lays down many parts of the Clanguage under function headings such as "signal". However,towards the end of each description is a section entitled "seerelated functions" with an incomplete list of references; forexample under "signal" it is "raise", but missing"ssignal, psignal, gsignal". Instead of spreading descriptionsaround like this it would be easier to read if related functions weregrouped under a similar heading, so the reader isn't distractedsearching for them.

Schild's book has moved from discussing C in aDOS environment in his first edition to a Windows environment in thethird edition. Although Schild does cover UNIX, the platform where Coriginated, he has skimmed the surface like a pebble across apond.

Rating:
Summary: A well-written, easy-to-read, tremendously dangerous book.
Review: Herb Schildt finds a wide audience among new C programmers, mostly due to his amicable writing style and clear, logical organization. While these qualities would be desirable for most books, they are what make "C: The Complete Reference" such a danger. Much of the information that Herb so eloquently gives is by and large tripe; many examples in this book demonstrate a lack of understanding of some of the most basic points of C. The result is an entertaining, rip-snorting read that leaves the reader dazzled, thirsty for more, but none the wiser (and thoroughly misinformed) in terms of the C programming language. This book is to be avoided at all costs, and is unfortunately typical of most modern C books.

Rating:
Summary: Buy a copy and destroy it, please!
Review: Herbert Schildt is an enthusiastic writer who can seduce the naive reader into believing anything, no matter how ridiculous. Do yourself a favor and get a recent edition of _C: A Reference Manual_ by Samuel Harbison and Guy Steele instead. Also, _The C Programming Language_ by Brian Kernighan and Dennis Ritchie. (For the sake of the newbies out there, I should mention that Dennis Ritchie invented the C language, which in itself is a recommendation, not to mention that the first edition of the book, published in 1978, served as the base document for the ANSI C standard). These two books are recommended by the comp.lang.c Usenet newsgroup's FAQ list---a reading of which, incidentally, could have prevented Schildt from committing many of the horrible errors in _C: The Complete Reference_. The naive errors in this book would be embarassing even in a programming assignment turned in by a computer science college sophomore.

The reviewers who gave this book a 10 have been sadly duped and don't even know it. These people owe it to themselves to get the Harbison and Steele reference manual, and read the Usenet FAQ about the C language, and to read Peter Seebach's partial review of Schildt's book whose URL has been mentioned at least twice in some other reviews here. Also, anyone who doubts the negative reviews should write an article to comp.lang.c with the subject ``Schildt'' and a blank body. That alone should incite a frivolous anti-Schildt flame thread that will last a good two weeks.

The Usenet culture has even coined a new epithet which is applied to a horribly wrong assertion (about a programming language) which is nonchalantly presented as fact: that term is ``bullschildt''. This will no doubt end up in the jargon file one day, thus immortalizing Herb's family name. That just goes to show you that you should be careful about what you publish!

I give this book a 2 only because I believe that the ranking of 1 should be reserved for works like _Learn C in 21 Days_, _C For Dummies_ or others of t! he same trash bin calibre.

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