C Language

 

C Language

      Chapter 1: Introduction

      Chapter 2: Operators

      Chapter 3: Control Statement

      Chapter 4: Array and String

      Chapter 5: Function

      Chapter 6: Pointer

      Chapter 7: Structure

      Chapter 8: More on Pointer(Dynamic memory  Allocation) and File handling in C

 

 History:

C's development began in 1969 when Dennis Ritchie started working on an early version of the language known as "B." B was influenced by the BCPL programming language and was used to develop early versions of the Unix operating system. Dennis Ritchie, with the help of Ken Thompson, further developed the B language, leading to the creation of C. C was designed to be a systems programming language, providing low-level control over hardware while maintaining a high-level programming approach. C played a crucial role in the development of the Unix operating system. As Unix was rewritten in C, it became highly portable across different hardware architectures. This portability was achieved by keeping the kernel code in C and only rewriting the hardware-dependent portions when porting to a new system. The first official definition of the C programming language was provided in the book "The C Programming Language," commonly referred to as K&R C (named after its authors, Brian Kernighan and Dennis Ritchie). This book, published in 1978, served as a reference for C programming and helped popularize the language. As C's popularity grew, there was a need for a standardized version of the language to ensure consistency across different implementations. The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) established a committee to develop a standard for C. In 1989, ANSI released the "ANSI C" standard (also known as C89 or C90), which introduced several enhancements to the language. Subsequent revisions of the C standard were released in 1999 (C99) and 2011 (C11). These revisions introduced new features and improvements to the language, including better support for modern programming practices, enhanced standard libraries, and more. C's design and features have had a significant influence on many programming languages that followed, including C++, Objective-C, C#, and more. These languages often share syntax and concepts with C while adding their own features and paradigms. Despite the emergence of newer programming languages, C remains widely used in various domains, particularly in systems programming, embedded systems, and areas where performance and control are paramount. Its simplicity, portability, and close relationship to hardware make it enduringly valuable. The availability of the Unix operating system's source code and the use of C played a pivotal role in the early days of the open source movement, contributing to the collaborative development of software. C continues to be used for various purposes, from developing operating systems, compilers, and game engines to firmware, networking applications, and more.

USES

v      C is widely used for developing operating systems, device drivers, and other system-level software due to its ability to interface directly with hardware and its low-level memory manipulation capabilities.

v      C is a popular choice for programming embedded systems, which are found in a wide range of devices such as microcontrollers, IoT devices, and consumer electronics.

v      Many game engines and graphics libraries are written in C or use C extensively. This is because C offers a good balance between performance and portability.

v      C is often used to implement compilers, interpreters, and virtual machines for various programming languages.

v      C is used in network programming to develop applications like web servers, network protocols, and communication libraries.

v      Some database systems and components are implemented in C for performance reasons.

v      C is used to create command-line utilities, tools, and scripting interpreters for automating tasks.

v      Though languages like Python have gained popularity for scientific computing, C is still used in this domain for performance-critical components.

v      C's predictable performance characteristics make it suitable for real-time applications, such as industrial control systems and robotics.

v      Many existing software systems and libraries are written in C. Maintaining and extending these systems may require knowledge of C.

v      C is often used as a first programming language to teach fundamental programming concepts due to its relatively simple syntax and emphasis on manual memory management.

v      C's portability allows developers to write code that can be compiled and run on various platforms with minimal modifications.