MASTERING POINTERS AND COMPLEXITY IN C

Building on his work as a voting member of the ANSI C Standards Committee from 1985 to 1991, Mr. Skelly has created a powerful advanced C seminar. This seminar is intended to give intermediate and advanced programmers and analysts a solid set of tools for dealing with the complexity which can arise in C programming. This complexity is particularly apparent in expressions involving pointers and multi-dimensional arrays, subjects investigated thoroughly by the "Mastering Pointers and Complexity in C" seminar.

The "Mastering Pointers" seminar begins with a discussion of complexity in C. Rules are presented for unravelling even the most complex declarations and expressions. Pointers are defined and Mr. Skelly's work on the "Three Attributes" and the "Ladder of Indirection" is presented. This work forms the basis of Mr. Skelly's upcoming book, "Mastering Pointers and Complexity in C++ and C," to be published by Addison Wesley in 1996. Following a discussion of "Pointer Dominos," a number of advanced data structures involving pointers are examined. The seminar concludes by demonstrating techniques for creating a C++ like "object" using C language alone.

This seminar is presented in a one day format without workshops, or in a two day format including student workshops. The workshops stress pointer manipulation and understanding, and are suitable for intermediate to advanced C programmers. Specific workshops involve sorting arrays of pointers, extracting records from databases, as well as implementing linked lists and other data structures.



MASTERING POINTERS AND COMPLEXITY IN C

OBJECTIVES AND ATTENDANCE SUGGESTION:

This advanced C seminar will focus on techniques for mastering the use of pointers in C programs. Simple, reliable rules for working with complex pointer expressions will be illustrated and explained.

o Mr. Skelly has spent several years developing a set of ideas for teaching C's "Pointer Power" in a complete, easy-to-grasp and entertaining fashion.

o Attendants should anticipate a lively and practical presentation, which will illustrate "The Domino Theory of Pointers" and other specific principles useful for mastering pointers and developing powerful C applications.

o The seminar will cover a wide range of topics all relating to pointers and complexity in C. The relationship of pointers to arrays and functions will be explored. At the end of the day, we will create a C++ like "object" using only C.



OBJECTIVES: The objective for this course is to give attendants a practical mastery of pointers in C.

WHO SHOULD ATTEND: Anyone learning C, or who has learned C, who has any questions at all about how pointers work, or what to do with them.