The primary content of the CD ROM packaged in the back of this book is a “seminar on CD ROM” titled Thinking in C: Foundations for Java & C++ by Chuck Allison (published by MindView, Inc., and also available in quantities at www.BruceEckel.com). This contains many hours of audio lectures and slides, and can be viewed on most computers if you have a CD ROM player and a sound system.

The goal of Thinking in C is to take you carefully through the fundamentals of the C language. It focuses on the knowledge necessary for you to be able to move on to the C++ or Java languages instead of trying to make you an expert in all the dark corners of C. (One of the reasons for using a higher-level language like C++ or Java is precisely so we can avoid many of these dark corners.) It also contains exercises and guided solutions. Keep in mind that because Chapter 3 of this book goes beyond the Thinking in C CD, the CD is not a replacement for that chapter, but should be used instead as a preparation for this book.

Please note that the CD ROM is browser-based, so you should have a Web browser installed on your machine before using it.