Parallel Computers : Background

C Programming

If it has been a while since you programmed in C, or if you really know Java rather than C, these might be the right references for you. Many of these are shamelessly cribbed from the CS 4410 web pages.

• Kernighan and Ritchie, The C Programming Language -- if you want to have on book on C programming on your shelf, this should probably be it.
• CS 4411 slides and practice questions -- from the Fall 2010 offering of Cornell's operating systems practicum
• C Programming Notes -- an accompaniment to K&R.
• C Programming Tutorial -- from the University of Strathclyde
• The Linux Kernel Coding Style -- this mostly matches the style that I use
• The Indian Hill Style Guide -- one popular C programming style
• Artistic Style -- the software I will use to re-typeset your code should I find your personal C style repellent

Software Carpentry

In the feedback from past versions of this course, many students (mostly not from formal computer science backgrounds) told me that the most useful things they learned were everyday software development skills for UNIX environments, like how to use make or how to use version control. If you feel like you would like to pick up these skills in a less ad hoc fashion, you may be interested in the slides and videos for the online Software Carpentry Course put together by Greg Wilson.

UNIX programming tools

Even if you don't feel like going through the software carpentry course, there are some UNIX tools that you should really know about. They will make your life much easier.

• emacs or vi -- I know, you can always get away with writing your code on your laptop and using sftp to shuttle it back and forth to the cluster. Trust me, your life will be easier if you are able to make minor changes using one of the common UNIX editors. I tend to use emacs when I will be writing for a while, and vi for quick edits, but your mileage may vary.
• Make -- it's ancient and quirky, but it's still the standard build system for most Unix environments. You'll get Makefiles whenever I give you code. The Sun tutorial is a good starting point, and the documentation for GNU Make is also okay. You can also Google "UNIX Make" or "Makefile tutorial" or the like and find other tutorials. I also like the O'Reilly Make book.
• Version control -- the old standard choice was CVS, and you can read here about using CVS on the CSUG machines. Subversion is a natural successor to CVS, but these days I personally use Git for new projects.
• Shell -- you will probably use the Bourne again shell (bash) as soon as you log into the crocus cluster. It's helpful to know a bit more than the standard cd and ls commands, if only so that you can better understand Makefiles (see above), and for this I recommend the Advanced Bash-Scripting Guide.

Programming lore

If you're an okay programmer but feel like you should sharpen your skills, here are a few books that I enjoyed that you might enjoy as well.

• The Pragmatic Programmer -- this is along the same lines as Greg Wilson's software carpentry, but I personally find the presentation more appealing. Maybe that's because I prefer books to slides.
• Code Complete -- this book is thicker than The Pragmatic Programmer, largely because it covers more material. It's a classic. I bought the first edition well over a decade ago; that edition remained in print until the second edition was published a couple years back.
• The Practice of Programming -- written by Kernighan and Pike, this book brings the same sort of matter-of-fact approach to common programming ideas that Kernighan and Ritchie brings to the C programming language.
• The Art of UNIX Programming -- the title of this book describes the content, but I enjoyed this book just as much for the style. Eric S. Raymond is very opinionated, and does not mind letting you know those opinions. He also has been a UNIX guy for a long time, and has some interesting insights.