People who want to start programming in C and those who have some experience with the language will find this book vital. It is a good reference that covers most aspects of C, from the basic elements of the language (such as data types, expressions, and statements) to C libraries, algorithms, applications, and software development. Finally, it has a good overview of C++, which applies C to the newest direction in programming, object-oriented programming.

The book is structured in five parts. This arrangement is helpful for someone who wants to quickly find material on any subject.

Part 1 is a complete description of C basics. It covers C expressions, program control statements, arrays and strings, pointers, functions, structures, unions, enumerations and user-defined types, console I/O, file I/O, and the C preprocessor; Schildt provides many valuable examples.

Part 2 discusses the structure of the C standard library and how it handles functions of all sorts. Topics include I/O, string and character functions, mathematical functions, system functions, and screen and graphic functions.

Part 3 describes sorting and searching algorithms, queues, stacks, linked lists, and trees. Artificial intelligence is among the most interesting applications presented here.

Part 4 covers software engineering using C. The author addresses efficiency, porting and debugging C programs, and interfacing to assembly language routines.

Last but not least, Part 5 is intended for people interested in object-oriented programming. It treats the main characteristics of C++ and describes those features that separate C++ from ANSI C.

The book fulfills its purpose of being a useful tool for everyone programming in C. It is by far the most comprehensive reference on the language. A particularly valuable feature is that almost every chapter contains alternative programming methods and algorithms, followed by practical examples and comparisons of the advantages and disadvantages of the methods.

The book lacks bibliographic references. Some details about using C under UNIX would have been helpful; this book emphasizes the DOS environment. The graphs and figures help the reader understand the material. The index is perfect.

This second edition was made necessary by changes in ANSI C. While the first edition was closer to Kernighan and Ritchie’s original C, this book covers the ANSI standard. The author does not mention the 1988 edition of Kernighan and Ritchie’s book [1].

This book is good for all those who are already programming in C and want to improve their style. For those who are beginning to learn C, a good book, with many exercises, is Lafore [2]. Schildt’s work is intended as a reference and does not contain exercises, but is useful either during or after reading a tutorial on the language. If you are a C programmer, you must have this book on your desk.