Customer Reviews
The C Bible - By: Mark R. Bannister, 14 Jun 2007 
As a UNIX programmer, I have found Harbison & Steele's reference manual to be the perfect example of what should comprise a good reference. It provides a complete & precise description of the C programming language, from lexical structure, through the pre-processor, program layout & syntax right up to accurate & precise descriptions of the Standard C libraries. By taking a bottom-up approach, it is logical, thorough, & easy to navigate.
The book is methodical in its comparisons between the different C dialects, & in providing excellent cross-references & examples throughout. I personallly found the syntactic descriptions of more use than that of the runtime libraries, because I have good online manual pages on UNIX that already describe the libraries thoroughly - although it must be said, not with such good examples.
The authors also treat you as an intelligent adult, rather than a student who needs to be hand-held & bottle-fed. I much prefer this approach in a technical book, you know you're being told everything, nothing held back, no detail missed, & you can decide for yourself what is & is not relevant to you.
This is far & away the best C reference manual on the market, but be warned, it is not for the beginner! You can't teach yourself C with this book, but it will certainly hold the answer to almost any question on the language you can think of, & enable an intermediate C programmer to fully hone his or her skills. No self-respecting C programmer should be without this gem.
This book is fantastic C reference book - By: C/C++ programmer, 23 May 2006 Concise, well-ordered reference book. Deals with the multiple flavours of C. Invaluable for those who have portability across versions as a concern. About 1/5th of the size of "The C standard" but I find it has 95% of the information, & that I can find it 200% quicker.
One of the best C programming reference book - By: Boran Gazi, 13 Feb 2003 As a C programmer I found this book very useful at every stage of my academic studies. The book overviews alll the topics in ANSI standard in a systematic way. Every topic in C programming language is explained without going into every detail of the language; rather focuses on the ANSI C libraries & functions. This book is not a good resource for beginners. However exprienced C programmers may find it very useful when trying to find a function, for example, to carry out a specific task. In other words, it provides easy way of understaning the concept of each C Library.
However, C++ concepts are missing in this book. A newer version should provide new concepts like new ANSI C/C++ standards & Object-oriented programming using C++.
Exact, concise, well written... - By: , 07 Dec 2002 This is a very good reference for any programmer who needs to learn C specific rules & concepts. Suppose you are a C++ programmer & you want to quickly go through the details of C for your low-level programming need. This is exactly what you are looking for. If you are inexperienced or don't know how to program, this isn't useful, however. It is definitely not like an ANSI/ISO copy of C standards. Apart from C language specials, there's detailed explanation on C libraries & macros, c++ compatibility & general C utilities. One of the rare books I have bought without doubt.
A happy union of reference and pedagogy - By: , 18 Feb 2001 This book has it alll. To begin with, it modestly callls itself "C: A Reference Manual". They might as well come right out with it & say "C: The Reference Manual". If you have a question about C, it will be answered here. This is not the ordinary thick & heavy tome hastily cobbled together against a deadline, but a refreshing example of old-fashioned, obstinate dedication to quality. It is lean & terse; every line carries meaning, & you will be expected to pay attention. That is not much of an exaggeration; just about every single line in the book, with the possible exception of the page numbers, is important: The examples don't just repeat the obvious; they are well chosen to point up important points, & at the end of each chapter you will find exercises that are cleverly crafted to make you cry & say "How could I have missed that!". That is also why, although the book callls itself a reference manual, it is at the same time a lesson in pedagogy. A smalll warning, though, just for the sake of balance: the weak point of C is also the weak point of this book, if it has one. If you are thinking of buying it just because you want an authoritative source on C declarations, this could be what you want if you have a truly superior intellect - Harbison & Steele don't miss anything, & sure enough it is alll here - but most of us will need another source on that particular subject before we realize that; a more hand-holding, tear-wiping sort of source. However, in summary: I was thinking just now of whether to add the line "This is the best book ever written on any subject.", but I decided against it, as I have not read alll books.
