C – a list of resources

Updated: 21-Jul-2023

Language

• The GNU C Reference Manual
• The GNU C Library Reference Manual
• The GNU C Preprocessor
• The C Library Reference Guide
• C reference
• comp.lang.c FAQ
• Summary of formatted output (printf)
• GNU Make Manual
• Modern C – Jens Gustedt
• C11:
  • a very rapid overview and some links to more information about the latest C standard, C11
  • the latest publicly available version of the C11 standard is the document WG14 N1570, dated 2011-04-12. This is a WG14 working paper, but it reflects what was to become the standard at the time of issue (source)
• C99:
  • Rationale for International Standard – Programming Languages – C (C99)
  • the latest publicly available version of the C99 standard is the combined C99 + TC1 + TC2 + TC3, WG14 N1256, dated 2007-09-07. This is a WG14 working paper, but it reflects the consolidated standard at the time of issue (source)
• Embedded C:
  • the latest draft, approved for publication, is in document N1169 (source)

Memory allocation

• Wikipedia article on C dynamic memory allocation
• static, automatic and dynamic storage
• why dynamic memory should be handled with care
• an example of a memory allocator (quite an old article)
• three articles on stacks and heap:
  • calculating stack size
  • properly allocating stacks
  • avoiding heap errors
• GNU C: functions that can be useful when dealing with memory allocation

Flexible arrays

• Bounded Flexible Arrays in C – Kees Cook
• Arrays of Length Zero – GCC
• Use the correct syntax when declaring a flexible array member – SEI CERT C Coding Standard

Undefined behavior

• How ISO C became unusable for operating systems development
• A Guide to Undefined Behavior in C and C++
• What Every C Programmer Should Know About Undefined Behavior

Make

• A Super-Simple Makefile for Medium-Sized C/C++ Projects

Volatile keyword

• How to Use C’s volatile Keyword (Barr Group)
• C keywords: Don’t flame out over volatile
• Nine ways to break your systems code using volatile

Coding standards

• SEI CERT C Coding Standard
• updated version of the Indian Hill C Style and Coding Standards paper – 1997
• Google C++ Style Guide
• Barr Group’s Embedded C Coding Standard
• Rules for secure C language software development – ANSSI

Portability

• Notes on writing portable programs in C
• Writing portable programs

Test

• Wikipedia: a list of C unit testing frameworks

Obfuscation

• some obfuscation tricks

Tools

• from ThrowTheSwitch.org:
  • Unity: unit testing
  • CMock: generation of stubs and mocks
  • Ceedling: test build management
  • CException: exception handling for C

Network programming

• Beej’s Guide to Network Programming Using Internet Sockets

Misc.

• The Development of the C Language – Dennis M. Ritchie