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Does knowing C require knowing Linux\Unix? While I know there's a strong relationship between the two, I don't think that it's a hard requirement. You can lea

Does knowing C require knowing Linux\Unix? While I know there's a strong relationship between the two, I don't think that it's a hard requirement. You can learn C syntax and how to compile it with pretty minimal Linux\Unix exposure. I do agree that it was a deficiency in the way the course was taught, luckily that professor no longer teaches the course as it became obvious that he wasn't comfortable with Linux or C. Still, that's when it became apparent to me that if people will avoid using an environment they're uncomfortable with, they will. Some students made the grave sin of running their code in Visual Studio on Windows rather than using GCC, and it was accepted because the code worked. Those students graduated all the same, despite having no knowledge of man pages. It's a lot more common than you'd think (and more than I'd like).

ColanR 7y ago
> Does knowing C require knowing Linux\Unix? More specificially, if you're going to use C on Unix/Linux, I think you have to know both. > You can learn C syntax and how to compile it with pretty minimal Linux\Unix exposure. Just because the "hello world" of the language is easy, does not mean the rest of the language should be just as fool-proof. I read the HN comments from the first time this was posted, and the top comment told a story about some students experimenting with fork bombs. When the sysadmin found what they were doing, the text he gave them to learn better was, "A Commentary on the Sixth Edition Unix Operating System," colloquially called Lions Notes. [1][2] To me that makes the case clearly that that language and that set of OS tools are very closely entwined, and if present together should not be expected to exist in isolation. It does sound like you had a deficient education regarding C. I think that means you needed a better education, however, and I think a lower level language built by and for programmers who know what they are doing should not be dumbed down to the level of badly taught undergrads. [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8205960 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8205960 [2] https://cs3210.cc.gatech.edu/r/unix6.pdf https://cs3210.cc.gatech.edu/r/unix6.pdf
- BanazirGalbasi 7y ago
  > It does sound like you had a deficient education regarding C. I think that means you needed a better education, however, and I think a lower level language built by and for programmers who know what they are doing should not be dumbed down to the level of badly taught undergrads. Luckily, I was able to snag a copy of the K&R book early on and basically used that to teach myself the course materials. Unfortunately for the rest of my classmates, that professor's poor teaching made most of them dislike using C, so they suffered when we used it for Operating Systems later. It may be outdated (I have no clue yet), but I'll check out the Lions Notes you linked. Thanks for sharing it!

ColanR 7y ago

> Does knowing C require knowing Linux\Unix? More specificially, if you're going to use C on Unix/Linux, I think you have to know both. > You can learn C syntax and how to compile it with pretty minimal Linux\Unix exposure. Just because the "hello world" of the language is easy, does not mean the rest of the language should be just as fool-proof. I read the HN comments from the first time this was posted, and the top comment told a story about some students experimenting with fork bombs. When the sysadmin found what they were doing, the text he gave them to learn better was, "A Commentary on the Sixth Edition Unix Operating System," colloquially called Lions Notes. [1][2] To me that makes the case clearly that that language and that set of OS tools are very closely entwined, and if present together should not be expected to exist in isolation. It does sound like you had a deficient education regarding C. I think that means you needed a better education, however, and I think a lower level language built by and for programmers who know what they are doing should not be dumbed down to the level of badly taught undergrads. [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8205960 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8205960 [2] https://cs3210.cc.gatech.edu/r/unix6.pdf https://cs3210.cc.gatech.edu/r/unix6.pdf

BanazirGalbasi 7y ago
> It does sound like you had a deficient education regarding C. I think that means you needed a better education, however, and I think a lower level language built by and for programmers who know what they are doing should not be dumbed down to the level of badly taught undergrads. Luckily, I was able to snag a copy of the K&R book early on and basically used that to teach myself the course materials. Unfortunately for the rest of my classmates, that professor's poor teaching made most of them dislike using C, so they suffered when we used it for Operating Systems later. It may be outdated (I have no clue yet), but I'll check out the Lions Notes you linked. Thanks for sharing it!