Learn C the Hard Way: Practical Exercises on the Computational Subjects You Keep Avoiding (Like C) (Brianne Kwasny’s Library)

639 Pages·2015·37.096 MB·English

by  Zed A. Shaw

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Learn C The Hard Way
Practical Exercises on the Computational Subjects
You Keep Avoiding (Like C)
Zed A. Shaw
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Shaw, Zed, author.
Learn C the hard way : practical exercises on the computational subjects you
keep avoiding (like C) /
Zed A. Shaw.
pages cm
Includes index.
ISBN 978-0-321-88492-3 (pbk. : alk. paper)—ISBN 0-321-88492-2 (pbk. :
alk. paper)
1. C (Computer program language)—Problems, exercises, etc. I. Title.
QA76.73.C15S473 2016
005.13’3—
dc23 2015020858
Copyright © 2016 Zed A. Shaw
All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. This publication
is protected by copyright, and permission must be obtained from the publisher
prior to any prohibited reproduction, storage in a retrieval system, or trans‐
mission in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying,
4
recording, or likewise. To obtain permission to use material from this work,
please submit a written request to Pearson Education, Inc., Permissions De‐
partment, 200 Old Tappan Road, Old Tappan, New Jersey 07657, or you may
fax your request to [phone].
ISBN-13: 978-0-321-88492-3
ISBN-10: 0-321-88492-2
Text printed in the United States on recycled paper at RR Donnelley in Craw‐
fordsville, Indiana.
First printing, August 2015
5
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Contents
Acknowledgments
This Book Is Not Really about C
The Undefined Behaviorists
C Is a Pretty and Ugly Language
What You Will Learn
How to Read This Book
The Videos
The Core Competencies
Reading and Writing
Attention to Detail
Spotting Differences
Planning and Debugging
Exercise 0 The Setup
Linux
Mac OS X
Windows
Text Editor
Do Not Use an IDE
Exercise 1 Dust Off That Compiler
Breaking It Down
What You Should See
How to Break It
Extra Credit
Exercise 2 Using s to Build
Using
What You Should See
How to Break It
Extra Credit
Exercise 3 Formatted Printing
8
What You Should See
External Research
How to Break It
Extra Credit
Exercise 4 Using a Debugger
GDB Tricks
GDB Quick Reference
LLDB Quick Reference
Exercise 5 Memorizing C Operators
How to Memorize
The List of Operators
Exercise 6 Memorizing C Syntax
The Keywords
Syntax Structures
A Word of Encouragement
A Word of Warning
Exercise 7 Variables and Types
What You Should See
How to Break It
Extra Credit
Exercise 8 , ,
What You Should See
How to Break It
Extra Credit
Exercise 9 and Boolean Expressions
What You Should See
How to Break It
Extra Credit
Exercise 10 Switch Statements
What You Should See
How to Break It
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Extra Credit
Exercise 11 Arrays and Strings
What You Should See
How to Break It
Extra Credit
Exercise 12 Sizes and Arrays
What You Should See
How to Break It
Extra Credit
Exercise 13 and Arrays of Strings
What You Should See
Understanding Arrays of Strings
How to Break It
Extra Credit
Exercise 14 Writing and Using Functions
What You Should See
How to Break It
Extra Credit
Exercise 15 Pointers, Dreaded Pointers
What You Should See
Explaining Pointers
Practical Pointer Usage
The Pointer Lexicon
Pointers Aren’t Arrays
How to Break It
Extra Credit
Exercise 16 Structs and Pointers to Them
What You Should See
Explaining Structures
How to Break It
Extra Credit
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