COMPUTER PROGRAMMING, IOE , TU
History and Importance of C
C was an offspring of the "Basic Combined Programming Language" (BCPL) called B, developed in the 1960s at Cambridge University. B language was modified by Dennis Ritchie and was implemented at Bell Laboratories in 1972. The new language was named C. Since it was developed along with the UNIX operating system, it is strongly associated with UNIX. This operating system was developed at Bell Laboratories and was coded almost entirely in C.
C was used mainly in academic environments for many years, but eventually with the release of C compiler for commercial use and the increasing popularity of UNIX, it began to gain widespread support among compiler professionals. Today, C is running under a number of operating systems including Ms-DOS. C was now standardized by the American National Standard Institute. This type of C was named ANSI C.
In the ever-evolving landscape of technology, where new technologies and programming languages often become obsolete shortly after their introduction, the C programming language has not only endured for over five decades but also remains highly pertinent in the contemporary era. The following points underscore the significance and importance of the C programming language in the current context:
- The programming languages such as C++, JAVA, Python, C# etc. are object oriented programming languages and use object oriented principles to develop scalable and maintainable applications and programs. Inorder to learn and understand these object oriented features and its significance, it is very much essential to understand basic programming concept and learning C programming languages can help to understand basic programming fundamental and principles.
- The system software programs like Operating systems and device drivers need to be very efficient and should deliver very high performance.By using the C’s flexibility and low level programming capability, such high performance systems and programs can be developed. Hence major parts of most popular operating systems like Windows, Linux and Android are written using C.
- The embedded software developed for the smart consumer electronics and other electronic devices are written and developed using C. These embedded software need to run within limited memory and processing capability.Hence C can be used to develop memory and processor efficient programs.
- C programming language can be used to develop high speed and very responsive gaming software.
- Due to C’s low level programming capability and its ability to interact directly with hardware, It is used to develop low-level software systems.