Off topic C question

[Andrae Muys]

ryanmorillo at hotmail.com (Ryan) wrote in message news:<4a7fde99.0204081858.58baabdd at posting.google.com>...
>     I have been doodling with python (nasty habit I know but I have to
> do somthing with my snake) and think I may be ready to learn a second
> language.  
It's always time to learn another language, I haven't found a language
yet that hasn't taught me to program better in the others.  Even VB
(yuck!) taught me the power of graphical interface builders when
writing graphical interfaces (of course the lanugage itself just
taught me how to run away *fast* ;).

> I am leaning towards C over C++ and Java even though I
> loose objects it will ground me firmly in functional programing.  I am
> wondering what book would be the best for a begginer? 

C maybe, Java maybe, I would recommend you wait on C++ until you have
a firm grasp of either or both of the others (Java probably more then
C).  (btw, as others have already pointed out, you probably mean
procedual, rather than functional.  At some point you should
definately learn a functional language as well, Haskell appears to be
the functional language of choice 'round here).

> The two I have
> seen that look interesting are
> C for Dummies (parts one and two) or 

Simple answer... No.

> The C Programming Language
> by Brian W. Kernighan, Dennis M. Ritchie.

If you decide to learn C, Yes.

Should you decide to consider Java I personally found
 The Java Programming Language
 by Ken Arnold and James Gosling
a good intro.

> I am looking for some input from someone who knows and knows the
> problems I will face coming from a __nice__ language like python.

Pointers.  Pretty much that's the number one issue most people have a
problem with coming to C from anywhere.  OTOH don't be afraid to
tackle them head-on, I haven't seen clean C code that dosn't use them
extensively, and I've seen some appalling code resulting from attempts
to avoid using them.  Of course this is why most other languages (such
as python) provide other, safer, ways of solving the problems pointers
solve in C.

Andrae Muys