The C Programming Language : Ansi C Version 2 Edition

If you want to be a proficient C programmer then you cant ignore this book. This book is a bible for C programmer. Its amazing how K & R have managed to squeeze the entire language in just 270 pages. Probably because they are the creator of the language! This book is more than a quarter of century old & still remains so relevant. I have always dreaded reading those huge books which if dropped can crush your toes.
Since so much has been condensed in 270 pages; every sentence of this book must be read. This book is certainly not for someone who doesn't know any programming language. Basic knowledge is must & always keep Google handy. You will need it ;).

My FIRST point: For the Indian students, there is a better/simpler alternative that is Let Us C by Yashwant Kanetkar, which is somewhat based on this book.

BOOK REVIEW: From an undergrad perspective, one who has no prior knowledge of programming, this book can be a little difficult to get into right away. Generally this books assumes the fact that the one reading is familiar(to a GREAT DEGREE) with the nuances of a language already, therefore not making this suitable for newbies.

The language/explanation of the book is lucid and crystal clear but the pace is faster than ANY other C Programming book on the market.

HISTORY:
This book was written by Ritchie and Kernighan, the CREATORS OF C LANGUAGE. So, no one else could possibly explain their own language more efficiently(ratio of explanation to time time taken to explain) than them. Having said that, here are the advantages and disadvantages of this particular book.

ADVANTAGES:
1.0 Learn this and digest this book before you graduate, you can be confident that YOU KNOW C, at least a decent amount of it anyway. This book covers everything regarding how C can be used to tackle programming/general problems.

2.0 This book explains some of the popular algorithms, so you learn some good algorithms before you are formally introduced to algorithms(Algo generally starts from 5th semester, while this book is for use from 2nd - 4th semester, at least at my University anyway).

3.0 GATE questions are based on the tricks that is explained in this book. So a must read for cracking GATE.

4.0 THE MOST CONCISE BOOK ON C PROGRAMMING EVER WRITTEN.

DISADVANTAGES:
1.0 VERY VERY FAST PACED. MOST STUDENTS WILL HAVE A HARD TIME CATCHING UP, ESPECIALLY THOSE WITH NO PRIOR EXPOSURE TO PROGRAMMING.

2.0 NOT THE FIRST C PROGRAMMING BOOK FOR THE GENERAL STUDENT WITH NO BACKGROUND IN PROGRAMMING.

3.0 EASY TO LOSE INTEREST IN THE BOOK, ESPECIALLY WHEN READING FOR THE FIRST TIME, AS THE AUTHOR TREATS THE READER AS SOMEONE EXPERIENCED IN PROGRAMMING, WHICH IS NOT THE CASE FOR THE VAST MAJORITY OF THE UNDER GRAD STUDENTS HERE IN INDIA.

Why was this book was written?

Ans. To serve as a manual(more or less) for the employees in Bell Labs and University professors who were going to take up C programming to teach undergrad courses in American Universities. So, there you have it, the reason why the author treats the reader as an experienced programmer.

FINAL THOUGHTS:
1.0 Good book to keep in library, good to look into FOR REFERENCE. Must buy for anyone wishing to master C programming.

2.0 In time the reader(who will mature in programming from his first exposure to this book) will come to appreciate the genius of this book.

Yes, this book is a genius piece of work.

3.0 Be ready to invest in any other book written by ano of the Indian authors(Kanetkar, Balaguruswamy etc.), if you are a general student.

Written by Dennis Ritchie (who originally designed and implemented the language) and Brian Kernighan, this is the original and authoritative reference to the C programming language.

The success of the C language is widely attributed to this book. Since the book first appeared in 1978, it has been the best learning resource for the C language for over two decades and it hasn't yet lost its shine.

Elegant writing style, concise, clear and informative. Though at some places the coding-style and conventions may be differ from those used today, mainly because the book is far too old, this edition being over 20 years old.

If you are into C, you can't afford to miss this book, it's too precious.

This book DOES NOT covers Data Structure (since often C and data structure are taught together). If you are looking for a Data Structure book, I suggest read 'Data Structures Using C', by Tenenbaum, et al. Here:
www.flipkart.com/books/8120311779?affid=flpkartgma

The book is awesome. The authors tell you every thing in the book about C, every minute detail of the language in just 270 pages! But the book is not for beginners as the book doesn't go into explaining stuff in very detail as the other books do, like giving examples telling you exceptions and things like that. The authors expect you to figure them out on your own, by coding in C.They will touch upon, or I would say familiarize you with every thing the language offers to us.

I would suggest you to go for this book if you have some programming background. If you are new to programming you will develop "HATRED" towards programming, which could be really bad especially if you had decided to pursue computers as a career.

"Good things come in small packages" would be the most appropriate phrase to describe this book. I have been a good programmer in my class and was able to do most programming required at B.Tech level with an ease. Still I bought this book to experience what the creators of C themselves had to offer, and trust me if I haven’t gone through this book I would have really missed the real essence of C. This book is a must buy to have that edge required. Just to quote an example, no other book of C brings to the reader’s notice the notion of command line arguments, which actually are very important but only at higher level or system level programming.
This is both an advantage to those who have a little prior knowledge of C and, a disadvantage if you are first time reading any programming language book. However sooner or later one can easily see the difference that this book creates as compared to other books. Each and every line is worth reading and understanding. The chapters are well organized and cover each and every concept with precise accuracy.
And yes excellent delivery by flipkart , delivered the book in just 2 days and in perfect condition.