Why use C?
C has been used successfully for every type of programming
problem imaginable from operating systems to spreadsheets
to expert systems - and efficient compilers are available
for machines ranging in power from the Apple Macintosh to
the Cray supercomputers. The largest measure of C's success
seems to be based on purely practical considerations:
C is often called a "middle level" programming
language. This is not a reflection on its lack of programming
power but more a reflection on its capability to access
the system's low level functions. Most high-level
languages (e.g. Fortran) provides everything
the programmer might want to do already built into the
language. A low level language (e.g.
assembler) provides nothing other than access to the machines
basic instruction set. A middle level language,
such as C, probably doesn't supply all the constructs
found in high-languages - but it provides you with all
the building blocks that you will need to produce the
results you want!
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Uses of C
C was initially used for system development work, in particular
the programs that make-up the operating system. Why use
C? Mainly because it produces code that runs nearly as
fast as code written in assembly language. Some examples
of the use of C might be:
In recent years C has been used as a general-purpose language
because of its popularity with programmers. It is not
the world's easiest language to learn and you will certainly
benefit if you are not learning C as your first programming
language! C is sexy - many well established programmers
are switching to C for all sorts of reasons, but mainly
because of the portability that writing standard C programs
can offer.
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A Brief History of C
C is a general-purpose language which has been closely
associated with the UNIX operating system for which it
was developed - since the system and most of the programs
that run it are written in C.
Many of the important ideas of C evolve from the an old
language known BCPL, developed by Martin Richards. The
influence of BCPL on C proceeded indirectly through the
language B, which was written by Ken Thompson in 1970
at Bell Labs, for the first UNIX system on a DEC PDP-7.
BCPL and B are "type less" languages whereas
C provides a variety of data types.
In 1972 Dennis Ritchie at Bell Labs writes C and in 1978
the publication of The C Programming Language by Kernighan
& Ritchie caused a revolution in the computing world.
In 1983, the American National Standards Institute (ANSI)
established a committee to provide a modern, comprehensive
definition of C. The resulting definition, the ANSI standard,
or "ANSI C", was completed late 1988.
A Rough Guide to Programming Languages is available on-line
for those of you that are interested.
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C for Personal Computers
With regards to personal computers Microsoft C for IBM
(or clones) PC's. and Borland's C are seen to be the two
most commonly used systems. However, the latest version
of Microsoft C is now considered to be the most powerful
and efficient C compiler for personal computers.
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