C is a structured general purpose programming language. It was developed to rewrite the unix operating system. Earlier the unix operating system was written in B language. Almost the entire unix operating system and most of the programs run in it are written in C language.
The B language was written by Ken Thompson at Bell Laboratories in 1970. B was a type less language. That is, there was no concept of data types in B. B language did not gain much popularity.
C language was developed by Dennis Ritchie in 1972 at bell laboratories. C is a type full language. C language provides many data types.
C was a very short and simple language. Therefore, in a short time it became very popular and other computer scientists started using it as well.
There is no decrease in the popularity of C language even today. C language is taught before learning any other programming language. Because all the programming languages (C ++, Java, PHP, C # etc) came after C language, they have somehow adopted C’s syntax.
Features of C Language
The reason for the popularity of C language is its features. These features make C language unique and powerful.
Structured
C is a structured programming language. In C, a program is created as small modules, called functions. By doing this, the programs are easy to manage and debug and big problems can also be solved easily.
Small
C provides 32 reserved keywords. These keywords provide programmer control over the language. By understanding the use of these keywords, you can do programming in C language. C language is small because it can be learned easily in a short time. Also, it is also easy to use.
Middle level
C is a middle level language. C is able to create both high level (very close to software) and low level (very close to hardware) applications.
This feature of C language is an advantage for programmers who want to create applications of both low and high levels. This feature makes C language flexible.
Fast
C language is considered the fastest language after assembly language. It is also sometimes called low level language. C language is close to hardware. So it is faster than other programming languages. Processing of applications created in C language is fast.
Case sensitive
C is a case sensitive language. In case sensitive programming languages the capital and small variants of a letter are treated differently. This makes it easier for programmers to create identifiers.
Extendable
C is an extendable programming language. You can add your own libraries to C programs and use them.