This book looks tempting but “Modern X” is really the most useless possible title and I hate it. You can find books using the term “Modern” in their titles back at least to the 80’s, on topics including DOS and CP/M, HTML versions <4, 1990s-era Java, K&R C, Turbo Pascal, and other such dead arts. “Modern Compiler Implementation in C”, second edition, is now old enough to vote, and the C it uses probably doesn’t overlap much with the “Modern C” described in this book.
I have taken to including the year whenever I write comments describing (eg) new vs old systems, after finding a few comments referring to the “new way” of doing things which actually talked about the N-2 version.
This post on StackOverflow is a ridiculously good answer to your specific question. I have been going back to it time and time again after refreshing my C knowledge by taking the Harvard/EdX free CS50 course earlier this year.
I’m studying C now, I bought K&R and found it great for providing problems to reinforce learning, but because the book is older I felt like I might be missing something. So I’m also reading “Effective C” which came out this year.
This book looks tempting but “Modern X” is really the most useless possible title and I hate it. You can find books using the term “Modern” in their titles back at least to the 80’s, on topics including DOS and CP/M, HTML versions <4, 1990s-era Java, K&R C, Turbo Pascal, and other such dead arts. “Modern Compiler Implementation in C”, second edition, is now old enough to vote, and the C it uses probably doesn’t overlap much with the “Modern C” described in this book.
I have taken to including the year whenever I write comments describing (eg) new vs old systems, after finding a few comments referring to the “new way” of doing things which actually talked about the N-2 version.
It’s temporal. They were modern with regard to when they were released.
Yes, that’s the problem.
How does this compare with something like K&R? I’d like to spend some time really studying C, and am looking for a few quality books to digest.
This post on StackOverflow is a ridiculously good answer to your specific question. I have been going back to it time and time again after refreshing my C knowledge by taking the Harvard/EdX free CS50 course earlier this year.
https://stackoverflow.com/a/562377
Also, this other SO post is really good for understanding what to look for when researching “modern” C. For example, C99, as a keyword.
https://stackoverflow.com/a/17209532
Perfect, thank you!
I’m studying C now, I bought K&R and found it great for providing problems to reinforce learning, but because the book is older I felt like I might be missing something. So I’m also reading “Effective C” which came out this year.
Thanks for the rec. I hadn’t heard of Effective C, but just managed to borrow a copy from my library. Seems like a good read.
Great book, I have really enjoyed reading it!
Here is an interview with the author:
https://www.se-radio.net/2020/06/episode-414-jens-gustedt-on-modern-c/