‘C’ seems like a strange name for a programming language. But this odd-sounding language is one of the most popular computing languages today because it is a structured, high-level, machine-independent language. It allows software developers to develop programs without having to worry about the hardware platforms on which they will be implemented. The root of all modern languages is ALGOL, which was introduced in the early 1960s. C was developed from ALGOL, BCPL and B in 1972 by Dennis Ritchie at Bell Laboratories.
C takes many of the concepts from these languages and adds the concepts of data types and other powerful features. Because it was developed along with the UNIX operating system, it is strongly associated with UNIX. During the 1970s, C developed what is known as “traditional C”. To ensure that the C language remains standard, the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) appointed a technical committee in 1983 to define a standard for C. The committee approved a version of C now known as ANSI C in December 1989. That was approved by the International Standards Organization (ISO) back in 1990. This version of C is also known as C89.
C’s increasing popularity is probably due to its many desirable properties. It is a robust language whose rich set of built-in functions and operators can be used to write any complex program. The C compiler combines the capabilities of an assembly language with the features of a high-level language, making it well suited for writing both system software and business packages. Many of the C compilers available on the market are written in C. Programs written in C are efficient and fast. This is due to its variety of data types and powerful operators. C is very portable. This means that C programs written for one computer can run on another computer with little or no modification. Portability is important when we plan to use a new computer with a different operating system. The C language lends itself well to structured programming, which asks the user to think of a problem in terms of functional modules or blocks.
A proper collection of these modules would make a complete program. This modular structure makes it easier to debug, test and maintain programs. Another important feature of C is its ability to extend itself. Basically, the AC program consists of collections of functions supported by the C library. We can continuously add our own function to the C library. With the availability of a large number of functions, programming tasks become easy. I know most of you don’t get good C programming tutorials. I think you can get the best C programming tutorial and the largest collection of source codes at This is a well organized site, especially for the newbies.
Thanks to Abhijith Krishnan | #Importance #Programming
