Preface 序

The computing world has undergone a revolution since the publication of The C Programming Language in 1978. Big computers are much bigger, and personal computers have capabilities that rival mainframes of a decade ago. During this time, C has changed too, although only modestly, and it has spread far beyond its origins as the language of the UNIX operating system.

自从1978年《The C Programming Language》一书出版以来，计算机领域经历了一场革命。大型计算机的功能越来越强大，而个人计算机的性能也可以与十多年前的大型机相媲美。在此期间，C语言也在悄悄的演进，其发展早已超出了它仅仅作为UNIX操作系统的编程语言的初衷。

The growing popularity of C, the changes in the language over the years, and the creation of compilers by groups not involved in its design, combined to demonstrate a need for a more precise and more contemporary definition of the language than the first edition of this book provided. In 1983, the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) established a committee whose goal was to produce "an unambiguous and machine-independent definition of the language C", while still retaining its spirit. The result is the ANSI standard for C.

C语言普及程度的逐渐增加以及该语言本身的发展，加之很多组织开发出了与其设计有所不同的编译器，所有这一切都要求对C语言有一个比本书第l版更精确、更适应其发展的定义。1983年，美国国家标准协会(ANSI)成立了一个委员会，其目标是制定“一个无歧义性的且与具体机器无关的C语言定义”，而同时又要保取语言原有的“精神”。结果产生了C语言的ANSI标准。

The standard formalizes constructions that were hinted but not described in the first edition, particularly structure assignment and enumerations. It provides a new form of function declaration that permits cross-checking of definition with use. It specifies a standard library, with an extensive set of functions for performing input and output, memory management, string manipulation, and similar tasks. It makes precise the behavior of features that were not spelled out in the original definition, and at the same time states explicitly which aspects of the language remain machine-dependent.

ANSI标准规范了一些在本书第l版中提及但没有具体描述的结构，特别是结构赋值和枚举。该标准还提供了一种新的函数声明形式，允许在使用过程中对函数的定义进行交叉检查。标准中还详细说明了一个具有标准输入／输出、内存管理和字符串操作等扩展函数集的标准库。它播确地说明了在C语言原始定义中并不明晰的某些特性的行为，同时还明确了C语言中与具体机器相关的一些特性。

This Second Edition of The C Programming Language describes C as defined by the ANSI standard. Although we have noted the places where the language has evolved, we have chosen to write exclusively in the new form. For the most part, this makes no significant difference; the most visible change is the new form of function declaration and definition. Modern compilers already support most features of the standard.

本书第2版介绍的是ANSI标准定义的C语言。尽管我们已经注意到了该语言中已经变化了的地方，但我们还是决定在这里只列出它们的新形式。最重要的原因是，新旧形式之间并没有太大的差别；最明显的变化是函数的声明和定义。目前的编译器已经能够支持该标准的大部分特性。

We have tried to retain the brevity of the first edition. C is not a big language, and it is not well served by a big book. We have improved the exposition of critical features, such as pointers, that are central to C programming. We have refined the original examples, and have added new examples in several chapters. For instance, the treatment of complicated declarations is augmented by programs that convert declarations into words and vice versa. As before, all examples have been tested directly from the text, which is in machine-readable form.

我们将尽力保持本书第1版的简洁性。c语言并不是一种大型语言，也不需要用一本很厚的书来描述。我们在讲解一些关键特性(比如指针)时做了改进，它是C语言程序设计的核心。我们重新对以前的例子进行了精炼，并在某些章节中增加了一些新例子。例如，我们通过实例程序对复杂的声明进行处理，以将复杂的声明转换为描述性的说明或反之。像前一版中的例子一样，本版中所有例子都可以被机器读取的文本形式直接通过了测试。【？？？】

Appendix A, the reference manual, is not the standard, but our attempt to convey the essentials of the standard in a smaller space. It is meant for easy comprehension by programmers, but not as a definition for compiler writers -- that role properly belongs to the standard itself. Appendix B is a summary of the facilities of the standard library. It too is meant for reference by programmers, not implementers. Appendix C is a concise summary of the changes from the original version.

附录A只是一个参考手册、而非标准，我们希望通过较少的篇幅概述标准中的要点。该附录的目的是帮助程序员更好地理解语言本身，而不是为编泽器的实现者提供一个料确的定义——这正是语言标准所应当扮演的角色。附录B对标准库提供的功能进行了总结，它同样是面向程序员而非编泽器实现者的。附录C对ANSI标准相对予以前版本所做的变更进行了小结。

As we said in the preface to the first edition, C "wears well as one's experience with it grows". With a decade more experience, we still feel that way. We hope that this book will help you learn C and use it well.

我们在第1版中曾说过：“随着使用经验的增加，使用者会越来越感到得心应手”。经过十几年的实践，我们仍然这么认为。我们希望这本书能够帮助读者学好并用好C语言。

We are deeply indebted to friends who helped us to produce this second edition. Jon Bently, Doug Gwyn, Doug McIlroy, Peter Nelson, and Rob Pike gave us perceptive comments on almost every page of draft manuscripts. We are grateful for careful reading by Al Aho, Dennis Allison, Joe Campbell, G.R. Emlin, Karen Fortgang, Allen Holub, Andrew Hume, Dave Kristol, John Linderman, Dave Prosser, Gene Spafford, and Chris van Wyk. We also received helpful suggestions from Bill Cheswick, Mark Kernighan, Andy Koenig, Robin Lake, Tom London, Jim Reeds, Clovis Tondo, and Peter Weinberger. Dave Prosser answered many detailed questions about the ANSI standard. We used Bjarne Stroustrup's C++ translator extensively for local testing of our programs, and Dave Kristol provided us with an ANSI C compiler for final testing. Rich Drechsler helped greatly with typesetting.

非常感谢帮助我们完成本书的朋友们：Jon Bentley、Doug Gwyn、Doug McIlroy、Peter Nelson和Rob Pike几乎对本书手稿的每一页尔提出了建议。我们非常感谢Al Aho、Dennis Allison、Joe Campbell、G. R. Emlin、Karen Fortgang、Allen Holub、Andrew Hume、Dave Kristol、John Linderman、Dave Prosser、Gene Spafford和Chris van Wyk等人，他们仔细阅读 了本书。我们也收到了来自Bill Cheswick、Mark Kernighan、Andy Koenig、Robin Lake、Tom London、Jim Reeds、Clovis Tondo和Peter Weinberger等人很好的建议。Dave Prosser为我们回答了很多关于ANSI标准的细节问题。我们大量地使用了Bjarne Stroustrup的C++翻译程序进行程序的局部测试。Dave Kristol为我们提供了一个ANSI C编译器以进行最终的测试。Rich Dreshsler帮助我们进行了大量排版的工作。

Our sincere thanks to all.

真诚地感谢每个人。

Brian W. Kernighan

Dennis M. Ritchie

Preface to the first edition 第一版序

C is a general-purpose programming language with features economy of expression, modern flow control and data structures, and a rich set of operators. C is not a "very high level" language, nor a "big" one, and is not specialized to any particular area of application. But its absence of restrictions and its generality make it more convenient and effective for many tasks than supposedly more powerful languages.

C was originally designed for and implemented on the UNIX operating system on the DEC PDP-11, by Dennis Ritchie. The operating system, the C compiler, and essentially all UNIX applications programs (including all of the software used to prepare this book) are written in C. Production compilers also exist for several other machines, including the IBM System/370, the Honeywell 6000, and the Interdata 8/32. C is not tied to any particular hardware or system, however, and it is easy to write programs that will run without change on any machine that supports C.

This book is meant to help the reader learn how to program in C. It contains a tutorial introduction to get new users started as soon as possible, separate chapters on each major feature, and a reference manual. Most of the treatment is based on reading, writing and revising examples, rather than on mere statements of rules. For the most part, the examples are complete, real programs rather than isolated fragments. All examples have been tested directly from the text, which is in machine-readable form. Besides showing how to make effective use of the language, we have also tried where possible to illustrate useful algorithms and principles of good style and sound design.

The book is not an introductory programming manual; it assumes some familiarity with basic programming concepts like variables, assignment statements, loops, and functions. Nonetheless, a novice programmer should be able to read along and pick up the language, although access to more knowledgeable colleague will help.

In our experience, C has proven to be a pleasant, expressive and versatile language for a wide variety of programs. It is easy to learn, and it wears well as on's experience with it grows. We hope that this book will help you to use it well.

The thoughtful criticisms and suggestions of many friends and colleagues have added greatly to this book and to our pleasure in writing it. In particular, Mike Bianchi, Jim Blue, Stu Feldman, Doug McIlroy Bill Roome, Bob Rosin and Larry Rosler all read multiple volumes with care. We are also indebted to Al Aho, Steve Bourne, Dan Dvorak, Chuck Haley, Debbie Haley, Marion Harris, Rick Holt, Steve Johnson, John Mashey, Bob Mitze, Ralph Muha, Peter Nelson, Elliot Pinson, Bill Plauger, Jerry Spivack, Ken Thompson, and Peter Weinberger for helpful comments at various stages, and to Mile Lesk and Joe Ossanna for invaluable assistance with typesetting.

Brian W. Kernighan Dennis M. Ritchie