Relearning/Modern C

Hi /prog/,
I want to re-learn C the right way.

When I was in college I took a bunch of courses (data structures, ADTs, algorithms) but I don't think I gained a deep knowledge of C.

What are some good books or resources on modern C usage (K&R is pretty dated)?

I'd like to do some HPC later in my life and I need to start somewhere.

K&R is not dated at all, maybe you should think of the areas that you want to study and how C is used in those areas, not about the language itself

you don't need a good book to learn C, you just need to start programming and keep learning new parts of the language. this is how you learn any language. if you really didn't even learn a single language at university, try an online course. im no expert, but im sure /prog/ knows some good books you can get for free

K&R

K&R is still a very good source of knowledgr.
After that, you can check the Structure & Interpretation of Computer Programs (SICP)

>>2
Bioinformatics/statistics, which would be mostly R and Python. I would like to be able to implement what R does, before learning R.


>>3
I could do "Learning C The Hard Way" but if it's anything like the Python version, I won't learn anything about how my code works, just how to write it.

I think too many people "just code" without regard to best practice or design (not that I'm implying you do).

My boss seriously used a do {} while (false); with breaks as a ghetto goto.

>>6
Learning C The Hard Way is not as bad as the Python version. If you want to read it, I'd say go for it.

But K&R is still a valid source.

>>7
Is there anything in LCTHW I should take with a grain of salt? I will probably read K&R or another book alongside.

>>8
Yes. Everything.

He kind of abuses preprocessor macros, and uses gotos ocasionally.

>>6
For that field it's better to just learn the math, then use SAS or R or whatever's easiest to implement your analysis.

For starters, read the standard.

>>9
Good to know

Are "C Programming: A Modern Approach" or "Expert C Programming: Deep C Secrets" any good? I've seen them recommended before.

>>10
I should, but it's even harder to find materials to learn from outside of a class for this. I don't think I could learn the math in a vacuum.

Most intro statistics material I've found is just learning techniques/distributions but now when to use what.

>>12
That's where you need to read journal articles relevant to your particular study, specifically the methods section.

K&R is dated. Read SICP.

SICP is dated. Read why's poignant guide to Ruby.

Expert C Programming: Deep C Secrets
You can tuna filesystem, but you can't fsck a fish!

>>16
I never understood this joke.

>>17
Then you should be able to get away with murder.

>>16
I fscking lol'd!

>>16
Selected quote from the book:
To this day, many C programmers
believe that "strong typing" just means pounding extra hard on the keyboard.

>>19
Who is lol'd?

>>21
I've been penetrating this hacker sub-culture for a while now and maybe I can shed some light on this word.

LOL, or "laughing-out-loud", seems harmless. But in actuality it is used to identify other hackers in places where they are frowned upon. Many of today's youth has started to use LOL thinking it's the online version of "laughing", but they don't understand.

LOL is the the exact equivalent of a gang sign.

To differentiate between a user's harmless use of LOL and a symbol of "hackerdom", a lot of times there's the "'D" attached to the end. It becomes LOL'D. It comes from the last letter in the word "hacked".

Just like contractions use "'" to replace letters in common phrases (like "can't" uses the ' to replace the letters "no" in "cannot"), the whole phrase of LOL'D spelled out is "look out, line hacked".

It's a phrase dating back to when hackers used to mess with phone systems, they would say "look out, line hacked" so the other person wouldn't say anything incriminating -- they knew someone else was on the line with them. Now days, it's simply a common greeting.

Please, use this knowledge and don't throw LOL'D around because you don't know who you're attracting.

>>21,22
http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/LOL?q=lol
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=lol%27d

both of you fail at searching dictionaries

>>20
Read the part after that (evolution of the language K&R->ANSI) was pretty interesting too.

>>17
You can tune a filesystem, but you can't tuna fish!

SICP is useful if you're a 1st of 2nd year in college- or pragmatically on a similar level of where they're at. Once you get past discrete mathematics, there is really no benefit to SICP

>>26
Bullshit.

>>26
Have you red ur SICP?

>>28
Have you read your New Oxford American Dictionary?

>>29
I don't trust the British to write an American Dictionary. It's Webster or nothing.

>>30
But the New Oxford American Dictionary is optimised.

>>31
optimised
See? This is why the world hates you. You Brits have no respect for the letter `z'.

>>32
Well, guess what.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/dc/Israelinbritainb00garn_0005.jpg
Transcript:
ISRAEL IN BRITAIN

A BRIEF STATEMENT OF THE EVIDENCES IN PROOF OF THE ISRAELITISH ORIGIN OF THE BRITISH RACE

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Israelism

Shalom, mate! Shalom, mate!

>>33
See, again, you can't even spell Izrael properly!

>>32
I think it's even worse that you stupid American's can't pronounce `z' correctly. ZED, ZED, NOT ZEE, ZED IS THE STANDARD!!!

Maybe you should try java: http://static.springsource.org/spring/docs/2.5.x/api/org/springframework/aop/framework/AbstractSingletonProxyFactoryBean.html

Or php, which is an even better choice. Especially with Zend Framework. It is a general purpose language, with namespaces and great support for closures. Everything an enterprise enabled coder needs.

>>36
Oh, you've been trolling so far! You had me going there for a good fucking while.

>>37

You cannot discern a php programmer from a troll.

For example:

I want to create a daemon/Linux service. Here is an example of how to run a process that has "throttle control"

// You must set these
//
// max_execution_time = 0
// max_input_time = 0

function doProcess() {
    echo "Start"."\n";
    usleep(10000);
    echo "Stop"."\n";
    return false;
}

function manageProcess() {
    // Setup data
    $runsPerMinute = 200;
    $maxMinuteAverage = 5;
    $waitIfNotWorking = 120; // seconds

    // Conversion
    $microsPerSecond = 1000000;

    // Statistical Info
    $currentMinute = 0;
    $minute = -1;
    $countPerMinute = array();
    $sumPerMinute = array();

    // Totals
    $totalProcessTime = 0;
    $totalCounts = 0;

    while (true) {
        $timestart = microtime();
        $performedWork = doProcess();
        $timeend = microtime();

        if (!$performedWork) {
            // Statistical Info
            $currentMinute = 0;
            $minute = -1;
            $countPerMinute = array();
            $sumPerMinute = array();

            sleep($waitIfNotWorking);
        } else {

            $ts = split(" ",$timestart);
            $te = split(" ",$timeend);

            $te[0] = ($te[0] * $microsPerSecond) - ($ts[0] * $microsPerSecond);
            $te[1] = ($te[1] - $ts[1]) * $microsPerSecond;

            $processTime = $te[0] + $te[1];

            if (date("i")<>$minute) { // We are NOT in the same minute
                // Reset the new minute
                $minute = date("i");
                $currentMinute = ($currentMinute+1) % $maxMinuteAverage;

                // Remove Statistical Information from the minute we are expiring.
                if (isset($countPerMinute[$currentMinute])) {
                    $totalProcessTime = $totalProcessTime - $sumPerMinute[$currentMinute];
                    $totalCounts = $totalCounts - $countPerMinute[$currentMinute];
                }

                $countPerMinute[$currentMinute] = 0;
                $sumPerMinute[$currentMinute] = 0;
            }

            $countPerMinute[$currentMinute] = $countPerMinute[$currentMinute] + 1;
            $sumPerMinute[$currentMinute] = $sumPerMinute[$currentMinute] + $processTime;

            $totalCounts = $totalCounts + 1;
            $totalProcessTime = $totalProcessTime + $processTime;

            $averageRuntime = round($totalProcessTime / $totalCounts);

            $waitTime = (($microsPerSecond*60) / $runsPerMinute) - $averageRuntime;

            usleep($waitTime);
        }
    }

}

manageProcess();

This shit will happily eat away all your memory. Is he serious or not?

>>38
Don't know.