C for Dummies
Jan 15 2013 · Random
I snapped a photo of my C for Dummies books on a visit to my parents place (my apartment is tiny, so a lot of my old books are there). C was the first programming language I took a serious interest in learning. I knew a bit about code prior as I had toyed around with QBASIC and Visual Basic, but I was interested in video games and computer graphics, for which neither of those languages were well suited.
I spend maybe a month consuming these 2 books when I was about 16, going back-and-forth between the pages and MS Edit + DJGPP to write and compile code. When it all clicked (and there really was that moment of clarity as everything went from looking cryptic and indiscernible, to elegant and natural) it was incredibly exciting.
These books were a great introduction to the C language, and programming in general, and Dan Gookin deserves a lot of credit; technical writing is hard, even more-so when your audience is the absolute beginner.