What is C?

The C programming language is a general-purpose, procedural language with structured programming, lexical variables, recursion, and a static type system. C is designed to map efficiently to typical machine instructions. It has been widely used in applications previously coded in assembly language. This includes operating systems and application software for a variety of computer architectures, from supercomputers to PLCs and embedded systems. In 1972, Dennis Ritchie developed the C language.

C is an imperative programming language. As a result, it was designed to provide high-level access to memory and language constructs that map efficiently to machine instructions, all with minimal runtime support. The language was designed to encourage cross-platform development despite its low-level capabilities.

 

Why C is important?

C is one of the oldest programming languages. Therefore, learning ‘C’ as the main language will be crucial while studying other programming languages. This program shares many concepts with SQL, such as data types, operators, control statements, and so on.  C programming language is more popular than many other programming languages because of the following reasons:

 

  • C helps us understand how computers store and retrieve information, and how they work internally.
  • It allows us direct control over the very low-level aspects of the computer.
  • C is much easier to learn than other programming languages such as Java, Python, etc.
  • C language is very efficient, popular, and well understood.
  • Due to its flexibility, C is a popular language for embedded systems programming.
  • Opportunity to work on open source projects. Many open-source projects, such as the Linux kernel, Python interpreter, SQLite database, etc., are written in C.
  • The C language offers a rich set of data types with cool type qualifiers like const, volatile, etc.

 

Where is C used?

 

  • The C language is widely used in embedded systems.
  • It is used to develop system applications.
  • The majority of Adobe’s applications are written in the C programming language.
  • It is used for developing browsers and extensions. Google’s Chromium is written in ‘C’.
  • It is used for developing databases. One of the most popular databases is MySQL, which is written in C.
  • A computer’s operating system, as well as a mobile phone’s operating system, are developed with C programming.
  • The C programming language is used to develop operating systems such as Apple’s OS X, Microsoft’s Windows, and Symbian.

 

Career

C is a powerful general-purpose programming language. The language is fast, portable, and available on all platforms. If we are new to programming, C is a smart choice to start our programming journey. There are bright prospects and various avenues in C and C++ programming for candidates with extensive knowledge. It is easy to learn the basics of C, but we will have to be an expert in order to build a successful career in C programming. C programming is used extensively for developing various types of operating systems and network drivers. It is also used for developing other programming languages. Despite the emergence of a host of other programming languages, C is in high demand. Since C has such a wide range of applications, it offers a lot of opportunities for building a successful, programming career.

 

Conclusion

Today, almost everyone is familiar with the term “C and C++ programming” when it comes to Computer Science. Even someone without a technical background has heard of these languages. C and C++ are among the first languages used to establish the Information Technology industry.