Choice Review

An excellent reference book on the programming language C, which picks up where the introductory texts end. The authors assume a knowledge of the syntax of C and emphasize the five major tasks of program development in C. To do this the book explains how to plan the application, choose data types, organize the code, write the algorithms and code in C, and create an error-free, executable, and practical program. The general editor of the book is the publications manager at Strawberry Software, Inc., a company that develops programmer's tools and software packages. For each chapter of the book, contributors, a reviewer, and their professional affiliations are listed. Some of these people, but not all, work for Strawberry Software. The chapters on functions and libraries, modularity, and portability as well as the appendix on C programming aids are exceptionally helpful. The book is well organized, clearly written, and uses practical examples. Very few references are given, and the four-page index could be improved. Much more readable than S.P. Harbison and G.L. Steele's C: A Reference Manual (CH, Dec '84), and is strongly recommended for academic libraries.-M.I. Frye, Northern Michigan University