🚀 go-pugleaf

noring@netcom.com (Jon Noring) 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?

	Well, C is basically a subset of C++.... anything you write in C
should be compatible with C++. C++ is an extension of C, which primarily adds
objects. Personally, I prefer C becuase it is well standardized and I frankly
think most of what C++ adds is a waste of time. However, alot of people would
disagree with me, so you might want to look into who and what around you
will be learning. I think if you learn C first you will be safe, just becase
C works with C++ and not vice versa.

>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?

	Well, if you are doing normal DOS programming, I would probably stick
with either Borland C++ 3.1 or Microsoft's C++ (7.0?). They are the two most
common and you will find alot more written for those two compilers... I think
there was a thread on this newsgroup discussin the two. I can't say I have
ever used Microsoft, so I cant speak for it, but I have been happy with
Borland for the most part.

>3) How robust is C compared to Fortran for purely number crunching, scientific
>   type applications on the PC?

	No solid evidence, but my engineer friend uses Fortran for his
classes instead of C.

>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?

 	Well, when I went from Basic to C (one of the best moves I ever made :)
I used to book called "C:step-by-step" by Waite & Prata. It is a very good
book for basic C.... I still use it now when I have to clarify something.
It doesn't cover C++ at all, though, so if you want to learn that you might
want to look for something else.


>Much thanks for your help/advice.

>Jon Noring

Just my $.02

Chad R. Collins
collins@blkbox.com