[coofluence]

I am wondering when will the author take on correcting errors in MMIX code in Knuth's books. He will at least earn a hex dollar for his efforts.

Jokes apart, I admire the bravery in questioning K&R C's status. I have only a few personal insights to share as I don't code much these days.

1. I got introduced to C in 80's via some popular book. K&R not only taught me C but also was my entry point into the systems programing world. Before K&R, the BASIC programming books never allowed me to deal with memory or interrupt vectors in the way C allowed me.

2. C has a great power dynamic built in to it. You are on your own in dealing with this power. It's you who crashed the machine, not C and surely not K&R C.

3. Almost every language since C has borrowed something from C. Hence, anytime I saw a familiar notation or code block in any language that reminded me of C, I got confidence that I can learn this language.

K&R's many virtues give it an unique status. It did something that no C book or website can do it. It is the word of the language designer themselves. They shared their reasons of the choices they made.