C Programming Overview

C is general-purpose, procedural computer programming language designed by Dennis Ritchie and Bell Labs in the 1970s. A successor to the B programming language, C provides structured programming, recursion, and variable scope with a static type system. C language provides low level memory access, has clear coding syntax, fast, and supported by various operating systems and devices. In 1978, Brian Kernighan and Dennis Ritchie published the book “The C Programming Language”, that served as the language reference until the C language was standardized by the American National Standard Institute (ANSI) since 1989 and by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO).

C can be called as the mother of modern programming languages. Languages such as C++, C#, Java, Python, Rust, Swift, Verilog have directly or indirectly borrowed from C. C and Unix are closely related to each other; the C compiler and some utilities were include in Version 2 Unix.

Why Learn C Programming Now?

Today, the world is dominated with modern programming languages such as Python, JavaScript, Go. These languages are much more advanced and capable than C. From the programmer’s perspective, C has a hard syntax and does not support object-oriented programming (OOP). Even though C has many demerits, it’s worth the effort you will put onto it. C is taught in almost every engineering college because of its clear syntax and versatility. It can be installed with ease in operating systems like Windows and comes pre-installed in Linux and Unix. Also, most of the computer science competitive exams and interviews will have at least one or two tricky questions of C in it. Learning C can be considered as hitting two birds with a stone; you will not only learn C but also half of C++ and Objective-C.

How will I Master the C Language?

Mastering C requires years of coding skills and deep knowledge of operating systems. C seems very hard for beginners because most of the time it is their first experience with coding. With time and patience, coding in C will come naturally. To make things easier for beginners we have made a complete guide to C programming with hundreds of examples and shortcut tricks. Throughout the journey you will encounter lots of errors but don't worry, you will get through it.