C really only clicked for me when I was taking my computer architecture class in college - working through the Patt &amp; Patel book[1], along with the Tanenbaum book[2], and building an entire 8-bit CPU from the gates up in a simulator.<p>I&#x27;ve seen so many people that just can&#x27;t wrap their heads around pointers, but it makes so much more sense when you&#x27;ve gotten down to the nitty-gritty level and built up from there.<p>[1] <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.amazon.com&#x2F;Introduction-Computing-Systems-gates-beyond&#x2F;dp&#x2F;0072467509" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.amazon.com&#x2F;Introduction-Computing-Systems-gates-b...</a><p>[2] <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.amazon.com&#x2F;Structured-Computer-Organization-Andrew-Tanenbaum&#x2F;dp&#x2F;0131485210&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.amazon.com&#x2F;Structured-Computer-Organization-Andre...</a>