The C Programming Language (sometimes referred to as K&R, after its authors' initials) is a well-known computer programming book written by Brian Kernighan and Dennis Ritchie, the latter of whom originally designed and implemented the language, as well as co-designed the Unix operating system with which development of the language was closely intertwined. The book was central to the development and popularization of the C programming language and is still widely read and used today. Because the book was co-authored by the original language designer, and because the first edition of the book served for many years as the de facto standard for the language, the book was regarded by many to be the authoritative reference on C.

The C++ Programming Language was the first book to describe the C++ programming language, written by the language’s creator, Bjarne Stroustrup, and first published in October 1985. In the absence of an official standard, the book served for several years as the de facto documentation for the evolving C++ language until the release of the ISO/IEC 14882:1998: Programming Language C++ standard on 1 September 1998. As the standard further evolved with the standardization of language and library extensions and with the publication of technical corrigenda, later editions of the book were updated to incorporate the new changes.