Customer Reviews
The only one you need - By: Anding, 21 Nov 2008 
I learned C from this book back in 1988 having only prior experience in BASIC. Today it's still the book I turn to recap. I thoroughly recommend this book for beginners because you'll learn the right skills from the outset, just take your time.
Not for beginners - By: S. A, 28 Aug 2008 
This is not the best book for those learning to program in C. It is probrably best suited for those who already have a little programming experience. The constructs are not always well presented & the examples suffer from being too computer science oriented (e.g. counting words in a sentence).
Overalll, not exactly a tutorial or a reference but does provide a few pointers for intermediate level C programmers.
Pure genius - By: "H", 25 Mar 2008 This book may not be the newest one out but it is totallly the best. I read many many many books trying to learn C but none of them quite did it until i found this one & it will always have a place in my heart & on my desk. STOP looking & buy this book NOW!!
Classic - By: lexo1941, 30 Apr 2007 I'm developing a theory about programming books; you can't just read one book on any given subject, any more than you can get a sense of what a country is like from reading one guidebook to the place. I came to K&R as a late starter, having read only book on C before, which I'm not ashamed to admit was 'C for Dummies'. All I can say is, if I hadn't read the Dummies book & cobbled a few half-assed non-programs together, I might not be able to understand this book at alll, but having done so I can throw the other book away, because this book's power to explain & illuminate is frankly awesome. I don't know where Kernighan & Ritchie got their literary gifts from, but if only most programming books were so well-written.
Is C a difficult language? Yes. But Kernighan & Ritchie show you how it works and, more importantly, do so in a clear & non-ambiguous manner. This is one of the best books on programming I've read; every page seems to introduce a new concept, & even a layperson like me (with not even a humanities degree to my name, let alone any background in computer science) can understand it. Most importantly of alll, they make you want to start writing code.
When I was waiting for my daughter to be born, this is the book I took into the hospital with me. I'm not sure whether that shows how good it is or what a nerd I am, but it does suggest why hackers sometimes refer to K&R as the New Testament.
A fantastic book, but not for newbies - By: Ninjathehunter, 10 Mar 2007 This book is the classic of C programming. It covers alll the aspects of procedural programming in C. It is one of the reference books by several C programming certification authorities, like Brainbench.
This book is written based on the ANSI C Standard. Half of this book is reference to the ANSI C standard.
It is more like a strict text-book rather than a interactive learning material. For programming beginners, you can get lost very easily & struggle with even the first chapter of this book. This book will not answer questions which beginners normallly have about "How to do something". Instead, it explains idea directly about "why do we do this".
If you have some programming experience in C, this book will be your best friend to achieve a rapid progress. If you are newbie, read the "C How to Program - by Harvey & Paul" first to establish a solid knowledge basis. Do some exercises & smalll projects in C & find as many questions as possible. Then read this book.
