CommunityNews

CommunityNews

Beej’s Guide to C Programming (pdf)

Foreword

No point in wasting words here, folks, let’s jump straight into the C code:

    E((ck?main((z?(stat(M,&t)?P+=a+'{'?0:3:
    execv(M,k),a=G,i=P,y=G&255,
    sprintf(Q,y/'@'-3?A(*L(V(%d+%d)+%d,0)

And they lived happily ever after. The End.

What’s this? You say something’s still not clear about this whole C programming language thing?

Well, to be quite honest, I’m not even sure what the above code does. It’s a snippet from one of the entries in the 2001 International Obfuscated C Code Contest1, a wonderful competition wherein the entrants attempt to write the most unreadable C code possible, with often surprising results.

The bad news is that if you’re a beginner in this whole thing, all C code you see probably looks obfuscated! The good news is, it’s not going to be that way for long.

What we’ll try to do over the course of this guide is lead you from complete and utter sheer lost confusion on to the sort of enlightened bliss that can only be obtained though pure C programming. Right on…

Read in full here:

This thread was posted by one of our members via one of our news source trackers.

Most Liked

mafinar

mafinar

Ah, Beej’s guide. Brings back fond memories when I was struggling to learn network programming.

Where Next?

Popular General Dev topics Top

PragmaticBookshelf
Computer security is a complex issue. But you don’t have to be an expert in all the esoteric details to prevent many common attacks. Atta...
New
PragmaticBookshelf
Design applications and websites that people will not only use, but will absolutely love. This second edition brings the book up to date ...
New
PragmaticBookshelf
A book on mazes? Seriously? Yes! Because it’s fun. Remember when programming used to be fun? Explore a dozen algorithms for generating th...
New
PragmaticBookshelf
If you have trouble estimating cost or schedule for your projects, you are not alone. The question is this: who wants the estimate and wh...
New
PragmaticBookshelf
Management is ready to disband your new agile team and outsource your project. Can you save The Dream Team? Portia Tung edited by L...
New
PragmaticBookshelf
ANTLR is a parser generator: a program that generates code to translate a specified input language into a nice, tidy data structure. You ...
New
PragmaticBookshelf
Many books and articles have been written describing agile, adaptable approaches to writing software. But somehow, reading about software...
New
PragmaticBookshelf
Free your inner nonfiction writer as you learn to write fast and well. Johanna Rothman @jrothman This work was written and produced...
New
PragmaticBookshelf
Learn the tools and techniques of effective engineering leadership. James Stanier @jstanier edited by Adaobi Obi Tulton @aotulton A...
New
New

Other popular topics Top

PragmaticBookshelf
Learn from the award-winning programming series that inspired the Elixir language, and go on a step-by-step journey through the most impo...
New
New
PragmaticBookshelf
From finance to artificial intelligence, genetic algorithms are a powerful tool with a wide array of applications. But you don't need an ...
New
AstonJ
Thanks to @foxtrottwist’s and @Tomas’s posts in this thread: Poll: Which code editor do you use? I bought Onivim! :nerd_face: https://on...
New
dimitarvp
Small essay with thoughts on macOS vs. Linux: I know @Exadra37 is just waiting around the corner to scream at me “I TOLD YOU SO!!!” but I...
New
foxtrottwist
A few weeks ago I started using Warp a terminal written in rust. Though in it’s current state of development there are a few caveats (tab...
New
PragmaticBookshelf
Programming Ruby is the most complete book on Ruby, covering both the language itself and the standard library as well as commonly used t...
New
New
NewsBot
Node.js v22.14.0 has been released. Link: Release 2025-02-11, Version 22.14.0 'Jod' (LTS), @aduh95 · nodejs/node · GitHub
New
PragmaticBookshelf
A concise guide to MySQL 9 database administration, covering fundamental concepts, techniques, and best practices. Neil Smyth MySQL...
New