Literature Recommendations for C

Development Code
1

Hi there,
I just hit vacation time and wanted to spend some time going a bit more in depth at C and maybe get some other Languages started.
I’ve head a “basic C course” and want to look deeper into it and specifically into programming Microcontrollers (stm32 to be precise). I am currently coding mostly using Vim so I am also interested to learn Vim script. I also already got K&R C programming language so I am mostly looking for a new take on C specifically for MCUs.

1 Like
2

Got you fam

2 Likes
3

He already got it.

4

Not gonna lie, I only read his title from the aggregate page when I made my suggestion.

5

Expert C Programming: Deep C Secrets by Peter van der Linden has some pretty good chapters, although it isn’t aimed specifically at embedded systems.

Chapter 3 has some “barn burner” declarations, like:

char *(*c[10])(int ** p);

Chapters 4, 9, 10 are pretty exhaustive on the subtle differences on the way the memory model treats pointers, arrays, array parameters to functions and their respective declarations.

6

Thanks for the suggestion, but i think this one is a bit over my head. Maybe gonna give it a try anyways.

7

char *(*c[10])(int **p) is an array of function pointers.

$ cat > x.c <<EOF
#include <stdio.h>

char *f( int **p ) {
  static char ok[ 4 ] = "ok0";
  ok[ 2 ] += **p;
  return ok;
}

int
main( int argc, char *argv[] ) {
  int i = 8, *iptr = &i;
  char *(*c[10])(int **p);
  c[ 0 ] = f;
  printf( "f() = %s\n", c[ 0 ]( &iptr ) );
  return 0;
}
EOF
$ gcc x.c
$ a.out
f() = ok8

Extra credit. Which one of these programs prints “hello”?

  1. First entry
#include <stdio.h>
#include <string.h>

int
main( int argc, char *argv[] ) {
  char (*(*c)[10])[10];
  char (*x[10])[10];
  char y[10];
  strcpy( y, "hello" );
  x[0] = &y;
  c = &x;
  printf( "%s\n", c[0][0] );
  return 0;
}
  1. Second entry
#include <stdio.h>
#include <string.h>

int
main( int argc, char *argv[] ) {
  char **c[10][10];
  char *x[10][10];
  char y[10];
  strcpy( y, "hello" );
  x[0][0] = y;
  c[0][0] = x[0];
  printf( "%s\n", c[0][0] );
  return 0;
}
8

I think

char **c[10][10];

and

char *x[10][10];

are probably generally bugs, and are definitely bugs in your specific examples.

 char (*(*c)[10])[10];

means c is a pointer to a 10 element array of pointers to a 10 element array of chars. And

char (*x[10])[10];

means x is a 10 element array of pointers to a 10 element array of chars. And appear to be used correctly to ultimately print hello. 2 either prints uninitialized garbage or faults.

9

Best book for beginners IMO.

Cheers,
-C-

1 Like
10

Yep, number 1 is right. I don’t like the crazy pointer to array notation of the C typesystem. It’s very hard to parse. Add in the crazy template system of C++ and now you have a language only understood by aliens. They should change the naming system of C++ versions from C++18 to C++wtf.

In number 2, change this line and voila, hello appears:

  printf( "%s\n", *c[0][0] );