Author: Miguel A. Ballicora
Date: 08:49:27 09/10/01
Go up one level in this thread
On September 09, 2001 at 23:55:10, Edward Seid wrote: >For months, I've followed the various threads on CCC. I also operate >HiddenDragon(C) [Gambit Tiger 2.0], one of the stronger comps on US Chess Live. >I've even exchanged emails with such chess programming heavyweights such as Mike >Leahy(Bookup), Gerrit Reubold(Der Bringer), and Dieter Buerssner(Yace). > >I've tried denying it, but now must face the truth... I'm addicted to computer >chess!!! This discovery hit me suddenly today. I've been out of college for >nearly 15 years. It was back in the day when I first had a taste of FORTRAN, >Pascal, and COBOL. I haven't thought much about programming at all since >then... until today. Today, at a Friends of the Library book sale in San >Francisco, I did something completely out of character for me. For $1, I bought >a book titled 'C for Dummies'. > >That's right... a guy who hasn't looked at a snippet of computer code for 15 >years, who can barely navigate thru HTML. I've done it... I've crossed over to >the dark side. > >ed seid >operator of HiddenDragon(C) on US Chess Live > >PS After I speed read thru my 'Dummies' book, where do go from there? Any >other good 'C' books, or programming books in general? Of course, the final >goal is to program my own chess program. Read comp.lang.c once in while. It will wake you up! It makes me like the subtleties of the language. Other C books? Kernighan and Ritchie "The C programming language" second edition is a classic and good for starters. Kind of expensive ($40), but it is worth it IMHO. There is one I bought recently that I would recommend but Kernighan and Pike. I think the title is "The practice of programming". I believe it is the book for you. It is not only about C, but about good programming practices. You DO NEED that in order to write a maintainable chess program. Better books for that would be "Writing Solid Code" (Steve Maguire) and\ "Code Complete" (by Steve McConnell) but I think it is too much. For now I think you can do great and quicker with "The practice of programming" since this book goes to the point quickly. I read first WSC and CC and I wish I started with TPOP. My advice is that you need a good book on C and a good book on programming practices. If I had to start all over again, the first two I would buy are The C pogramming language by K&R (note that Ritchie is the creator of the language) and TPOP by K&P. The third one, could be "C unleashed". It is thick as a brick and get a LOT of ADVANCED information!! (Our moderator Dann Corbit wrote a chapter there). I have not bought this book yet but I will. I read a bit everytime I go to the bookstore. The made it thick so I will neve finish and I will have to buy it :-) So, I have no formal education in computer science, so I hope that my experience help you. I manage to build a program by myself. Then again, since I have no formal education I might be missing something important to tell you. Regards and good luck!, Miguel
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