Review: C: The Complete Reference, Fourth Edition
Iain Laskey thinks this book isn't quite what it claims.
| Product | C: The Complete Reference, Fourth Edition |
|---|---|
| Company | Osborne |
| Web | www.osborne.com |
| Price | £25.99 |
| We like | Some useful content, fairly clear explanations |
| We don't like | Far from complete, not really a reference |
| Rating | 6/10 |
| Requirements |
Herbert Schildt is a prolific if not always well received author. Earlier version of this C Reference Guide were considered somewhat lacking in both the accuracy and content departments. Have things improved with this latest (and final?) version?
The thing that jumps out most in this book is that the title isn't really very accurate. Yes, there is a lot of reference material in it but it also tries to double as a tutorial for large chunks of the C language. That said, the explanations are reasonably clear and the accuracy seems to have improved considerably with no really obvious problems.
What is more of a problem is that for a book that claims to be complete and also to cater for all versions of C, it's most definitely not what it says on the tin.
First of all, it still has a very strong DOS/Windows bias. Yes, there is some Unix content but nowhere near enough and having tried to look up a dozen or so fairly common calls in the index, items that would appear in any other self-respecting C reference, I found two. Great chunks are either barely touched upon or just missing. To be fair, the author does state in an early chapter that some Unix functions such as the I/O related ones are omitted because using them can create non-portable code but at the same time, a lot of people work in the Unix environment, often on existing code bases and may well be stuck with them so leaving them out for idealistic reasons isn't really acceptable.
There are also sections that seem completely out of place given the book's claimed focus. For instance, why would a generic reference book contain an entire chapter devoted to building a Windows 2000 skeleton? That should be left to a dedicated Windows programming guide.
We'd also question the inclusion of common algorithms such as sorting/searching, stacks, lists and trees and more bizarrly, some AI (artificial intelligence) routines. The amount of space dedicated to a C interpreter also seems excessive.
More suitable though was the section on porting and efficiency which has a few useful tips but again, is worryingly light in scope. Its inclusion helps to raise it as an idea to the reader but you'll get much fuller advise elsewhere.
We'd have been far happier if the book included much more reference material and stopped trying to be a tutorial and Window's development guide.
One of the books strengths are the illustrations and examples. Things like bit-shifting are well covered with numerous variations to show what happens across a variety of scenarios including losing bits off either end. More difficult concepts are explained with the aid of clear diagrams that genuinely add understanding rather than just filling space.
Conclusion
C: The Complete Reference isn't a total disaster. It's considerably better than previous versions and the author has done a lot of work to tidy up earlier problems. However, despite the title and cover's claims of covering all versions of C, there's precious little for Unix developers and the author seems confused as to whether he's writing a reference or a tutorial. Beginner's may find the combination useful but we'd suggest most people would be better off getting a proper tutorial and a seperate and hopefully more widely encompasing reference guide to learn from.
