In article <1992Dec23.220530.15347@netcom.com> noring@netcom.com writes:
>
> Hello,
>
> My wife, who is a database analyst working with DB2, etc. (all IBM mainframe
> stuff), is now interested in learning C programming because of pending changes
> at the company she works. I, too, have an interest in learning C - I'd like to > be able to write programs to solve a variety of problems (I've done a lot of
> fairly complex scientific programming with, heaven-forbid, Fortran, so I do
> have some general programming experience).
>
> Since both of us are newbies in this area, I'd like some advice as well as
> answers to the following questions:
>
> 1) There seems to exist C, as well as C++, and possibly other variants. What
> are the differences between these? Which should we learn first?
>
> 2) We want to do most of our programming on our 386-33 PC running MSDOS 5.0.
> What C-type compilers exist for the PC? Which ones are better? How much
> do they cost and where can one get them at a discount?
>
> 3) How robust is C compared to Fortran for purely number crunching, scientific
> type applications on the PC?
>
> 4) What books would you recommend in learning C (my wife might want to take
> classes - I do better teaching myself)? And of course, since I will be
> doing programming on a PC, what books would you recommend that are
> specific to that platform, especially w.r.t. memory management as well
> as graphics?
>
>
> Much thanks for your help/advice.
>
> Jon Noring
>
Meanwhile, back at the original post...
Boy, it's amazing how short an attention span some individuals have. I've
seen several follow-up posts THAT HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH THE ORIGINAL
REQUEST! And how about this guy who is going to file a lawsuit on behalf
of all FORTRAN programmers over general comments made by another poster?
Was your name specifically mentioned in the post? Geezus, get a life! You
must be a Federal Employee...
However, I digress ;-).
DON'T BUY MICROSOFT C/C++ 7.0!!!!! The damn thing is so bug-ridden, you can't
do any serious (or recreational, for that matter) work with it. I've seen
nothing but complaints about it in comp.lang.c/comp.lang.c++. Microsoft seems
to be less interested now about producing quality products than it is in
keeping up with the market (i.e., Borland).
Case in point: It is not version 7.0 of their C++ compiler!! They bundled
their version 1.0 C++ compiler with their version 7.0 C compiler so that
people would be confused and think it was a tested and stable product. I was
a bit insulted that Microsoft thought that everybody was stupid enough to fall
for that (and I'm sure there were some individuals who did...). Borland, on
the other hand, released a version 1.0 of their C++ compiler (and then a 2.0,
a 3.0, and currently 3.1).
Anyway, to the original poster: When you ask for opinions, you sure get 'em.
Just Do It.
Bob
---
Bob Hood thor@arrakis.denver.co.us H: 303-980-8392 W: 303-623-2180