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1989-07-27
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Issue 16 C News 1
*--------------------------------------------------------------*
| C NEWS - International C Electronic Newsletter/Journal |
| "Dedicated to the Art of C Programming" |
| |
| Founded 12/27/87 |
*--------------------------------------------------------------*
Table of Contents
THE HEAP: Messages from the Editor ...................... 2
BOOK REVIEW: by Arnie Cherdak .......................... 3
COPYRIGHT-IT: Product Review by Jim Singleton ........... 5
BEGINNERS CORNER: By Wayne Dernoncourt ................. 8
SETS IN C (V1.0) by Arnold Cherdak ....................... 12
ARTICLE SUBMISSION STANDARDS ......................... 25
HOW TO GET HOLD OF US HERE AT CNEWS........................ 26
"C News" is an Electronic Journal published by the C BBS in
Burke, VA on a monthly basis. The subject for C News is the C
programming language, as well as any derivatives like C++.
All readers are encouraged to submit articles, reviews, or
comments for submission. C News is freely distributed, but can
not be sold for a profit, or cannot have a charge assessed to
cover distribution costs. All articles, and reviews become the
property of C News and cannot be included in other
publications without written permission from the C News
Editorial Staff. To do so is in direct violation of the C News
License agreement. Copies of which are available from the C
BBS. This publication is Copyrighted under U.S. Copyright
Law.
Issue 16 C News 2
=================================================================
THE HEAP: Messages from the Editor
=================================================================
THANKS!!!
A couple of weeks ago we published Issue 15 of C News after
a long vacation. A few days later at the monthly C BBS user
meeting we discussed the future of C News. With the addition of
Dan Kozak and Jim Singleton to the staff here, we felt that C
News could continue and would grow. Dan has done an excellent
job of putting some macros together for PROFF and has put this
issue together. Jim Singleton reviewed the issue and provided
one of the articles. With this level of support I look forward
to the rest of this second year of publication.
BARRY'S PET PROJECT
Well the mailman has been dropping off more postcards from
around the globe these last couple of weeks. Postcards have
found there way here from Finland, Abu Dubai, Iowa, and
California. Keep up the good work and keep those cards
coming!!
COMPUTER AIDED SOFTWARE ENGINEERING
Once again the subject of CASE has crossed my desk. I just
finished a class in Systems Analysis and Design and was
impressed with some of the PC Based CASE tools that are
available. When you look at the price tag though of some of the
packages ($1500 in some cases) you realize that the only way you
will get a chance to use one is to get the boss to by it! Yeah
right you say..
Over the next year or so I am going to be working on a
small private project that is a combination of a SCCS system and
a CASE tool. As my thoughts on the mythical project are
finalized I will publish a series of articles here in C News. I
would like to generate some conversation this subject here in C
News and on the C BBS. If you have some thoughts on CASE and
would like some editorial space, send me a note in Snail Mail,
MCI Mail, Fido Mail or call the C BBS at 703-644-6478. I would
be very interested in hearing how some of you are making out
with the various CASE tools that are currently available.
Look forward to hearing from you, and now let's get on with
the 16th issue of C News.
Barry
Issue 16 C News 3
=================================================================
BOOK REVIEW: by Arnie Cherdak
=================================================================
The Waite Group's Essential Guide to ANSI C
by Naba Barkakati
Pub: Howard W. Sams & Co., Indianapolis, IN, 1988
$6.95
I've spent a lot of money on books about computer languages
and programming but this inexpensive little gem is just about
the best bargain I've come across yet. The author claims that
it's not for the neophyte. In the author's words, it's for
"intermediate to professional level programmers." It's a
reference guide that summarizes the basic features of the ANSI C
standard (1988) including the preprocessor, new language
features as compared with the original K&R default standard, and
standard library functions. It also provides individual
reference entries for each standard library routine along with
examples of their use. All this and two quick reference guides
for the library routines as well as a fairly sizable index make
this book easy to use.
This book is not organized for learning C. That's why it's
not supposed to be for the beginner if this is the only source
he or she would have to use. However, in conjunction with other
sources of instruction and a good ANSI C compiler, say, Turbo C
version 2.0 (which is almost an ANSI C compiler), this will make
a dynamite reference. The Turbo C 2.0 manuals have most of this
information but the reader needs to wade through two volumes
full of all kinds of stuff to get at the nuggets needed to use
the language's basic features. This reference guide has only
the nuggets and a few clearly written descriptions of basic
stuff such as one of the most succinct and understandable
descriptions of memory allocation procedures I've ever run
across. It has excellent descriptions of other subjects as well
in the introductions to the other 9 chapters describing the
various groups of library functions.
After several months of using this book, I find the
reference guides for library functions to be invaluable. There
are other books like this but none I've seen have similar
indexes to the library functions and, hence, are of dubious
value by comparison.
Also, in using the function descriptions and function
parameter descriptions with Turbo C version 2.0, I've found
complete agreement, so far, which means I can use this guide
Issue 16 C News 4
which is much simpler in most respects than the Turbo Reference
Guide.
The Waite Group also offers similar guides to Microsoft C
(ver 5.1) and Turbo C (ver 1.0, 1.5, and 2.0 in one volume) that
cover similar ground including the extensions offered by each
compiler. These are only a dollar more. I opted for the plain