In the early 1970s, computer scientists Brian Kernighan and Dennis Ritchie designed a programming language that is still regularly updated today. TIOBE Index Climb: C. This makes it one of the most widespread languages on the planet.
This success is no coincidence: 1973 wrote Dennis Ritchie with computer scientist Ken Thompson which is still in full effect today machine language programmed operating system Unix In C around. This made UNIX the first operating system developed in a high-level language and the project set a milestone in the history of computer science.
- The C programming language can be used universally and learning the basics is comparatively easy.
- A compiler translates the C code into machine code that can be immediately executed by the target architecture.
- During translation, several optimization steps ensure that the resulting code is memory-friendly and extremely efficient.
- This makes the language ideal for performance enthusiasts and those who double-check every bit before installing software.
This shows that C is ideal for developing machine-oriented software, even though it is a high-level language, i.e. not machine-specific. Like a high-level language, C is portable. This means that software developed in C can be moved from one platform (e.g. Intel x86) to another (e.g. ARM) with little or no changes. This is successful because it abstracts away details such as memory management or processor architecture. This means that you no longer have to struggle with cryptic assembly languagemnemonics How MOV, ADD Or JMP But can use commands that are reminiscent of the English language and mathematical formulas. This makes C code much easier to write, read, and maintain than machine-specific assembly code.
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