C Language - Overview
C Language - Overview
C Language - Overview
In 1978, Brian Kernighan and Dennis Ritchie produced the first publicly available description of C,
now known as the K&R standard.
The UNIX operating system, the C compiler, and essentially all UNIX application programs have
been written in C. C has now become a widely used professional language for various reasons −
Easy to learn
Structured language
It produces efficient programs
It can handle low-level activities
It can be compiled on a variety of computer platforms
Facts about C
C was invented to write an operating system called UNIX.
Today's most popular Linux OS and RDBMS MySQL have been written in C.
Why use C?
C was initially used for system development work, particularly the programs that make-up the
operating system. C was adopted as a system development language because it produces code
that runs nearly as fast as the code written in assembly language. Some examples of the use of C
might be −
Operating Systems
Language Compilers
Assemblers
https://www.tutorialspoint.com/cprogramming/c_overview.htm 1/2
3/11/23, 10:55 AM C Language - Overview
Text Editors
Print Spoolers
Network Drivers
Modern Programs
Databases
Language Interpreters
Utilities
C Programs
A C program can vary from 3 lines to millions of lines and it should be written into one or more text
files with extension ".c"; for example, hello.c. You can use "vi", "vim" or any other text editor to
write your C program into a file.
This tutorial assumes that you know how to edit a text file and how to write source code inside a
program file.
https://www.tutorialspoint.com/cprogramming/c_overview.htm 2/2