C Programming language

C is a programming language developed at AT &T's Bell Laboratories of USA in 1972. It was designed and written by a man named Dennis Ritchie. In that time some languages were there like Algol-60 and Pascal.

C language is member of Algol-60 based languages. CPL (Combined Programming Language) was built but it never implemented after BCPL (Basic CPL) came as implemented language. It was rewritten by Ken Thompson in 1970 named B specially for UNIX Operating System. Dennis M. Ritche added some new features and introduced a new language called C language. The major advance of C over the languages B and BCPL was its typing structure. C language adopted some features from Algol-68 also.

The Future of C Language

Although the C may be a base for successful object oriented extensions like C++ and Java, C still running to remain and be used with same qualities as ever. C is still a preferable language to write short efficient low-level code that interacts with the hardware and OS.

The old C programmers sometimes used assembly language for doing jobs that is not possible to do in C. In future, the programmers in other programming languages may do the same. They will write the code in their favorite language and for low-level routines and efficiency they will code in C using it as an assembly language.

Advantages of C language

1. It's a systems language (which means it can be used to do low-level programming with minimal or no run-time).
2. It is essentially high level assembly (it was designed to write portable OS's in).
3. A lot of libraries are written in C and it's easy to find reference code, and to get support.
4. C code is readable by people who understand most other curly-bracket languages (C++, D, Java, C#).
5. It lacks advance features (somewhat a disadvantage), but combined with the above point it's a good language to demonstrate code in.
6. C lacks features like classes, templates, and exceptions.
7. Overall, it's declining as an applications language, but still holding strong as a systems language.

Disadvantages of C Language

1. There is no runtime checking.
2. There is no strict type checking( for ex: we can pass an integer value for the floating data type).
3. As the program extends it is very difficult to fix the bugs

What is the age of C ?

Since the time, it was developed almost 30 years ago; C has been in use, without its importance being marginalized. Over a period of time a huge amount of source code has been developed and been made available, and therefore, there is a lot of C to be leant and to be used.

Why C is Well-researched and studied ?

One of the best things about C is the amount of study, in-depth analysis, and research that has gone into it. This has meant that almost all issues concerned with C have been clearly understood and elucidated.

There are a whole lot of tutorials that will help you learn the language, as well as solve, any kind of problems that might arise. You also get the help of a huge amount of expertise, insights, and opinions on the language that has been a result of years of development, study, and use.

Is C great for putting ideas into practice ?

C is inherently easy to understand. Moreover, if you want to express some common ideas in programming, and in a way in which people are comfortable with, then using C is the best way you can accomplish this. You could call it the lingua franca, when it comes to programming. It can be adapted to suit the requirements of any development, and its current use and the languages used to program the UNIX system, illustrates this fact with aplomb.

C is Closer to the Machine

When you are working with C, you are working with various aspects like individual bits, pointers, and bytes. This will allow you to understand the various optimization techniques for the computer system.

It's always good to know, what is happening with regards to the components of the system that you are using. While working with higher level languages this is extremely useful, if something does not work or is slower than you thought it would be.