From: @arrakis.denver.co.us (Bob Hood)
Newsgroups: alt.msdos.programmer
Subject: Newbie Wants Advice on C-Programming
Date: 28 Dec 92 10:33:53 GMT
Reply-To: thor@arrakis.denver.co.us
Organization: Bob's Programming Paradise

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
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                  I'm not an expert, but I play one at work....