Re^2: What book would be valuable to someone self-taught?

[Marshall]

I have the original and the new one. This is not the right level for a beginner. This is great stuff when we talk about complex client-server and multi-process applications.

You cannot go from "I want to ride bicycles" to "drive motorcycles in motocross competitive races" in a single step!

I recommend again K&R for a study of how loops work. It is short, but the information content is dense. A lot is said in few words.

[JavaFan]

The OP is considering books like "Art of UNIX Programming", "Pragmatic Programmer" and "Programming Pearls". He also declared he knows about the syntax and such - he can actually code. I think he's already way past the learning how to ride a bicycle. He seems to be more "great, I know how to ride a bicycle - now, how can I scale a mountain on one?".

I certainly assume the OP knows how to write a loop.