best "free" place to learn some C programming

[thesimplecreator]

I've played with python a little bit before, and i just took a college course in basic Java. I like python and Java and i know the basics of programming but they both seem too high level. i reallly want to learn a language that i can really control.
so the query is: Where is the best place on the interwebs to learn C, for someone who already has programming basics down?
Or is their a better language for me to mess with?

[GNU-Fan]

The best place is the library of your college. They usually offer quite a choice of books for learning C.

[Lakshmipathi]

are you looking for C linux system programming ? If so then,check out books like

Advanced Programmer's Guide to Unix System V - Rebecca Thomas
Programming in C - Stephen G. Kochan
Advanced Programming in the UNIX Environment - W.Richard Stevens

Network Programming Books:
Beej's Guide to Network Programming - Beej (it's a paper)
UNIX Network Programming - W.Richard Stevens


GNU-Fan is correct. I read these books in college library. In fact,I can't get few of these books outside college (like Rebecca Thomas).

[darkrose0510]

Look for this book, it's generally considered to be the C bible:
-The C Programming Language, By Brian Kernighan & Dennis Ritchie ISBN: 7-111-19626-0

There's also some good tutorials over at cprogramming.com: Cprogramming.com - Programming Tutorials: C++ Made Easy and C Made Easy

[elija]

Look for this book, it's generally considered to be the C bible:
-The C Programming Language, By Brian Kernighan & Dennis Ritchie ISBN: 7-111-19626-0

There's also some good tutorials over at cprogramming.com: Cprogramming.com - Programming Tutorials: C++ Made Easy and C Made Easy

That's the one I am using. It's quite fast paced and does assume some prior knowledge of programming principles.

[swim]

I've played with python a little bit before, and i just took a college course in basic Java. I like python and Java and i know the basics of programming but they both seem too high level. i reallly want to learn a language that i can really control.
so the query is: Where is the best place on the interwebs to learn C, for someone who already has programming basics down?
Or is their a better language for me to mess with?

You should take a look at: Programming - Principles and Practice Using C++ by Bjarne Stroustrup. An excellent startup into C++ programming. It is an easy read and gives the beginner programmer a well rounded intro.

[thesimplecreator]

cprogramming.com seems like it has quite a bit of tutorials, ill give it try before buying a book. thanx guys

[GNU-Fan]

These three site you should also have bookmarked for reference:
The GNU C Reference Manual
C Library - C++ Reference
The GNU C Library - GNU Project - Free Software Foundation (FSF)

I prefer them over man-pages and use them regularly.

[Rubberman]

I've played with python a little bit before, and i just took a college course in basic Java. I like python and Java and i know the basics of programming but they both seem too high level. i reallly want to learn a language that i can really control.
so the query is: Where is the best place on the interwebs to learn C, for someone who already has programming basics down?
Or is their a better language for me to mess with?

C has often been called a high-level assembly language. Basically, there isn't much you cannot do with it, albeit with difficulty in many cases. C++ is C with the ability to design classes (abstractions) that more effectively model real-world systems. You can mix C with a C++ program, so things that really require the down-and-dirty bit-twiddling of C and be done with C++. Myself, I really like C++. There are things you can do with it that are just overwhelming to accomplish in C, mostly because of C++'s more powerful ability to model abstractions. However, if you are going to learn C++ effectively, then you should first learn the UML modeling language. As far as I'm concerned, they go hand-in-glove to design and implement complex systems.

Anyway, since you have had some exposure to Java, you know about classes, methods, abstractions, and such at least to some extent. My personal opinion of Java (and I have been working with it for 15 years - got my first exposure to it from Goslin himself) is that it is C++ with training wheels...