[FM Discuss] C primer needed

[Janet Swisher]

So, wanna write a book? I think that can be arranged :-)

On Tue, Mar 24, 2009 at 8:14 PM, Lori Nagel <jastiv at yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> Hello, you may remember me from the Libre Planet conference when I stopped by to see what you were working on with the free software manuals.
> I noticed there were not any that pertained specifically to programming
> although that is not so much just software usage.

> A primer is a sort of
> pre-programing book, the kind of book you would give to someone who
> didn't know anything about programming at all who suddenly decided they
> wanted to modify a C program. It should be really basic.

If somebody says "I want to learn to program", C is not the language I
would suggest. But I can see the scenario of "I have this program, but
I just wish it did X instead of Y." An interesting larger question is
how people make the leap from user to coder. That might happen more
often if there were more resources like you're suggesting. I think
many users don't think programming is within the realm of possibility
for them.

> The
> other major thing to keep in mind when doing a primer is to be witty,
> that is not to make it all bland and dry and textbook like.  I had a C
> primer that made it really memorable by making all the little programs
> into kind of joke with a sense of humor in it.

I love "Why's (Poignant) Guide to Ruby":
http://poignantguide.net/ruby/chapter-3.html
It's completely over the top. I can only aspire to be a fraction as funny.

--Janet