C/C++ Programming

There are many resources for C and C++ programming. We won't try to list them all here, but here are a few of the ones which we have found noteworthy.

Mailing lists and newsgroups

Note that the following newsgroups are not for issues specific to a single C implementation (such as GCC). For the latter, see our GCC page mentioned below.

For discussions of the C language, the newsgroups are comp.lang.c and comp.lang.c.moderated.

For discussions of the C++ language, the newsgroups are comp.lang.c++ and comp.lang.c++.moderated.

For more information on C programming

The C Programming Language, by Kernighan and Ritchie, is the best known and one of the best books on the C language. I find it quite readable, but it definitely assumes knowledge of some programming language, and opinions seem to be divided on whether it is really best to know some C before picking up the book.

ANSI C Reference Card - if, like me, you always forget the precedence of C operators, you need this.

Fatbrain.com sells a bunch of C/C++ training materials (videos and computer-based training materials and so on). To be honest, we haven't seen the materials, but based on the list of topics, they cover in depth a wide variety of C Programming topics.

C Programming from lysator.liu.se. A comprehensive web site for all aspects of C programming, including frequently asked questions, standards, history and culture.

For many uses of C, you'll probably also end up using many of the operating system specific libraries as well as the standard C libraries. For unix-like operating systems, the most authoritative source of information is the Single Unix Specification. It is fairly readable (if you like concise documentation), but it isn't a tutorial. Get it on CD-ROM, or on the web with free registration.

For more information on C++ programming

The most widely read and most trusted book on C++ is The C++ Programming Language by Bjarne Stroustrup, the inventor of C++.

The Mozilla C++ portability guide is to a small extent specific to writing code for Mozilla but most of it is generic advice about writing C++ code which will work with a variety of compilers.

For more information on C/C++ implementations

GCC is the most popular freely redistributable C/C++ implementation.