C Programming Language

This book is meant to help the reader learn how to program in C. It is the definitive reference guide, now in a second edition. Although the first edition was written in 1978, it continues to be a worldwide best-seller. This second edition brings the classic original up to date to include the ANSI standard.

From the Preface:

We have tried to retain the brevity of the first edition. C is not a big language, and it is not well served by a big book. We have improved the exposition of critical features, such as pointers, that are central to C programming. We have refined the original examples, and have added new examples in several chapters. For instance, the treatment of complicated declarations is augmented by programs that convert declarations into words and vice versa. As before, all examples have been tested directly from the text, which is in machine-readable form.

As we said in the first preface to the first edition, C "wears well as one's experience with it grows." With a decade more experience, we still feel that way. We hope that this book will help you to learn C and use it well.

1. A Tutorial Introduction.


2. Types, Operators, and Expressions.


3. Control Flow.


4. Functions and Program Structure.


5. Pointers and Arrays.


6. Structures.


7. Input and Output.


8. The UNIX System Interface.


Appendix A.


Appendix B.


Appendix C.


Index.

• all examples have been tested, which is in machine-readable form.

• it discusses various aspects of C in more detail, although the emphasis is on examples of complete programs, rather than isolated fragments.

• it deals with basic data types, operators and expressions.

• covers functions and program structure, external variables, scope rules, multiple source files, and also touches on the preprocessor.

• it also describes an interface between C programs and the UNIX operating system, concentrating on input/output, the file system, and storage allocation.

• it also provides a language reference manual. The official statement of the syntax and semantics of C is the ANSI standard.

Brian W. Kernighan works in the Computing Science Research Center at Bell Laboratories, Lucent Technologies. He is Consulting Editor for Addison-Wesley's Professional Computing Series and the author, with Dennis Ritchie, of The C Programming Language.

Dennis Ritchie is a computer scientist notable for his influence on ALTRAN, B, BCPL, C, Multics, and Unix.