Rating: 
Summary: The ideal book for teaching C programming.
Review: Roberts' book is ideal for teaching students C programming to students with little or no background in computers or computer science. The design allows students to continue on and learn object-oriented programming without little difficulty. In addition, the layout of the book is easy to grasp for students at any level.
Rating: 
Summary: The Library-Based approach does more harm than good
Review: THE ART AND SCIENCE OF C was the textbook for the first-semester freshman college course on C programming at the university that I graduated from. It was a total disaster. The semester that followed (where we used the excellent A BOOK ON C by Al Kelley and Ira Pohl) consisted of unlearning virtually everything we had learned based on this book. The reason was that although the book claims to teach the reader how to program in C, it actually teaches the student how to program in Eric Roberts C, which is based on non-standard libraries that are completely different than the ones used everywhere else in the world.The book is based upon several libraries designed to make things easier for the student. These libraries actually replace most of the standard C statements. Input/output is now done through these libraries, as are file handling, string functions and a host of other basic operations. The problem is that by replacing all these elementary processes the user is left learning nothing that is applicable to anything else outside of Eric Roberts C. In order to use any programming language at all, the student will have to go back to the beginning and learn most of everything over again. This will invariably lead to confusion as students struggle to determine which of the items they have learned are "real" C and which are the made-up items that have no usefulness. The similarity of the traditional and Roberts libraries result in quite a few mix-ups in syntax. I have criticized the book's use of pointless libraries, but there are several things that it does well. There is a lot of good introductory material here for people who are unfamiliar with the bare basics of programming: loops (for, while, etc), conditionals, and syntax. By using the simpler libraries, the book teaches the student the basics of programming, if nothing of the specifics. This may well pave the way for the student to move on to learning real C, but for actually teaching the student anything that is useful, it fails and adds extra step that a novice programmer must go through before he/she can get to something that's informative and practical. While in my personal library I kept almost all the Computer Science books that I used in my undergraduate days, this was not one of them, and was a book that I quickly sold back to the bookstore at the earliest opportunity. If you don't plan on using C in anything beyond what you learn here, then this book might be fine for you. If you want to learn C without having to relearn a lot of things later, avoid this one.
Rating:
Summary: The Library-Based approach does more harm than good
Review: THE ART AND SCIENCE OF C was the textbook for the first-semester freshman college course on C programming at the university that I graduated from. It was a total disaster. The semester that followed (where we used the excellent A BOOK ON C by Al Kelley and Ira Pohl) consisted of unlearning virtually everything we had learned based on this book. The reason was that although the book claims to teach the reader how to program in C, it actually teaches the student how to program in Eric Roberts C, which is based on non-standard libraries that are completely different than the ones used everywhere else in the world. The book is based upon several libraries designed to make things easier for the student. These libraries actually replace most of the standard C statements. Input/output is now done through these libraries, as are file handling, string functions and a host of other basic operations. The problem is that by replacing all these elementary processes the user is left learning nothing that is applicable to anything else outside of Eric Roberts C. In order to use any programming language at all, the student will have to go back to the beginning and learn most of everything over again. This will invariably lead to confusion as students struggle to determine which of the items they have learned are "real" C and which are the made-up items that have no usefulness. The similarity of the traditional and Roberts libraries result in quite a few mix-ups in syntax. I have criticized the book's use of pointless libraries, but there are several things that it does well. There is a lot of good introductory material here for people who are unfamiliar with the bare basics of programming: loops (for, while, etc), conditionals, and syntax. By using the simpler libraries, the book teaches the student the basics of programming, if nothing of the specifics. This may well pave the way for the student to move on to learning real C, but for actually teaching the student anything that is useful, it fails and adds extra step that a novice programmer must go through before he/she can get to something that's informative and practical. While in my personal library I kept almost all the Computer Science books that I used in my undergraduate days, this was not one of them, and was a book that I quickly sold back to the bookstore at the earliest opportunity. If you don't plan on using C in anything beyond what you learn here, then this book might be fine for you. If you want to learn C without having to relearn a lot of things later, avoid this one.
Rating:
Summary: Awesome
Review: The best introductory programming book you'll find. And Dr. Roberts is the best professor.
Rating:
Summary: The extended libraries won't work
Review: The book is fine but it requires the reader to download the extended libraries from the publisher's web site thru FTP. I tried to use MS C++ 6.0 and Borland C++ 5.0, both compilers were not able to run Roberts' programs. It was a very frustrating experience for me. There was no help..
Rating: 
Summary: Good, but why did he choose to use his own libraries?
Review: The book is really well-structered and well-written. But it seems like it is absolutely useless if you try to learn C on your own. (I learnt it in class by the way, so it was quite helpful). I completely do not understand why the author had to "simplify" C with his own libraries. Are his students at Stanford incapable of learning real C?
Rating:
Summary: The Book Is Worth Reading
Review: The book is worth reading. If learning C from point zero is what you want, the book will guide you. Obviously, it is helpful having someone whom you can ask about the various aspects of C. Appearantly the author enjoys teaching, which in itself makes for a better teacher, than one motivated- by work alone. C can be learned on your own. Make sure you have the desire, to actually make time and learn. Other books will become a necessity along the way; no book is that complete - yet. I recommed you also get the book : Assembly Language Step-By-Step : Programming With DOS and Linux. No programmer should program any language without knowing at least rudiments of assembly; it WILL be useful, at one point make the difference in efficiency and speed of certain programs you will end-up writing, regardless. The Art and Science of C, I purchased first; then another book on C; for a more complete introduction, called: Beginning C. As mentioned above, you WILL need to at least peruse different books on C; should you be just starting with no programming experience, whatsoever. It is no big deal; just do it.
Rating:
Summary: Clear and superb introduction to C language
Review: The presetation style of this book is excellent. This book is perfect for people who want to learn C programming language while don't have any previous programming background. The author leads you through the intricacies of the language without leaving you bewildered or overwhelmed with unclear and disjointed presentations which,by the way, characterise so many books on the market today. Superb and truly engaging -better than Seinfeld, although not quite up to the Simpsons:-) What more could you ask for from a computer book?
Thanks, Professor Roberts.
Rating:
Summary: Awesome guide to C
Review: This book is excellent because Roberts constantly tries to use things we already understand to help us understand programming. Very user-friendly and a great tool to tote around for years.
Rating:
Summary: The best introduction I have encountered.
Review: Whether you are new to C, new to programming, or new to computers, this is a great -- simple but not simplified -- book with which to begin your journey into computer science. It is articulate and intelligent, clear and logical, with lucid explanations of the various aspects of the C language and of programming methodology in general, along with a fundamental glimpse of the way computers work on the hardware level and how their physial construction determines software engineering. Highly recommended.
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