The C Programming Language: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 20:04, 6 June 2025

Revision as of 08:49, 12 June 2025

Line 1:

{{Short description|Book by Brian Kernighan and Dennis Ritchie}}

{{about|the textbook|the programming language covered in the book|C (programming language)}}

{{Use American English |date=June 2025}}

{{Use mdy dates |date=June 2025}}

{{Infobox book

| name = The C Programming Language

| image = The C Programming Language, First Edition Cover.svg

| caption = Cover of the first edition.

| author = {{ubli
|[[Brian Kernighan]]<br>
|[[Dennis Ritchie]]

}}

| illustrator =

| cover_artist =

Line 14 ⟶ 17:

| genre =

| publisher = [[Prentice Hall]]

| pub_date = 1978 (1st Edition) <br> 1988 (2nd Edition){{ubli

|{{timeline-event |date=1978 |event=first edition }}

|{{timeline-event |date=1988 |event=second edition }}

}}

| isbn = 9780131101630

| dewey =

Line 51 ⟶ 57:

Kernighan would write most of the book's "expository" material, and Ritchie's reference manual became its appendices.

The first edition, published February 22, 1978, was the first widely available book on the C programming language. Its version of C is sometimes termed ''K&R C'' (after the book's authors), often to distinguish this early version from the later version of C standardized as [[ANSI C]].<ref name="k&r1e">{{cite bookQ |Q63565563 |last1= Kernighan |first1= Brian W. |authorauthor1-link1link= Brian Kernighan |last2= Ritchie |first2= Dennis M. |authorauthor2-link2link= Dennis Ritchie |title= The C Programming Language |edition= 1st |publisher= [[Prentice Hall]] |publication-date= February 1978 |___location= [[Englewood Cliffs, NJ]] |isbn= 0-13-110163-3 |url= https://archive.org/details/cprogramminglang00kern }}</ref>

In April 1988, the second [[Edition (book)|edition]] of the book was published, updated to cover the changes to the language resulting from the then-new ANSI C standard, particularly with the inclusion of reference material on [[C standard library|standard libraries]]. The second edition of the book (and {{as of|2024|lc=true}}, the most recent) has since been translated into over 20 languages.<ref>{{Citecite web |url=https://www.cs.princeton.edu/~bwk/cbook.html |last=KeninghanKernighan |first=Brian W. |author-link=Brian Kernighan |title=The C Programming Language, Second Edition |website=PricetonPrinceton University |url=https://www.cs.princeton.edu/~bwk/cbook.html |access-date=18 February 2023}}</ref> In 2012, an eBook version of the second edition was published in ePub, Mobi, and PDF formats.<ref>{{Cite interview |url=https://www.informit.com/articles/article.aspx?p=1960359 |title=An Interview with Brian Kernighan on C and The C Programming Language |website=InformIT |last=Keninghan |first=Brian W. |interviewer=John Wait |date=1 October 2012}}</ref>

C was first standardized in 1989 (as ANSI X3.159-1989) and has since undergone several revisions. However, no new edition of ''The C Programming Language'' has been issued to cover the more recent standards.

Line 63 ⟶ 69:

''The C Programming Language'' has often been cited as a model for [[technical writing]], with reviewers describing it as having clear presentation and concise treatment. Examples generally consist of complete programs of the type one is likely to encounter in daily use of the language, with an emphasis on [[system programming]]. Its authors wrote,

{{blockquote|We have tried to retain the brevity of the first edition. C is not a big language, and it is not well served by a big book. We have improved the exposition of critical features, such as pointers, that are central to C programming. We have refined the original examples, and have added new examples in several chapters. For instance, the treatment of complicated declarations is augmented by programs that convert declarations into words and vice versa. As before, all examples have been tested directly from the text, which is in machine-readable form.|preface to the second edition<ref name="k&r2e">{{cite bookQ |Q63413168 |last1= Kernighan |first1= Brian W. |authorauthor1-link1link= Brian Kernighan |last2= Ritchie |first2= Dennis M. |authorauthor2-link2link= Dennis Ritchie |title= The C Programming Language |edition= 2nd |publisher= [[Prentice Hall]] |publication-date= March 1988 |___location= [[Englewood Cliffs, NJ]] |url= https://archive.org/details/cprogramminglang00bria |isbn= 0-13-110362-8 }}</ref>}}

[[File:Hello World Brian Kernighan 1974.jpg|thumb|"Hello, World!" program by Brian Kernighan (1978)]]

The book introduced the [["Hello, World!" program]], which prints only the text "hello, world" as an illustration of a minimal working C program. Since then, many texts have followed that convention for introducing a programming language.

Line 78 ⟶ 84:

== References ==

{{Reflist |30em}}

== External links ==