C Introduction
In this tutorial, we will learn about Introduction, History, features & key-points, Advantages & Disadvantages of C, Applications and Compilers of C.
What is C Language?
C is a general-purpose case-sensitive programming language that is extremely popular, simple, and flexible to use. C is one of the oldest, fastest and extremely popular programming language. It is a procedure and structure oriented programming language that is machine-independent and extensively used to write various applications, Operating Systems like Windows, and many other complex programs like Oracle database, Git, Python interpreter, and more.
History of C Language
- It is developed by Dennis Ritchie at AT&T's Bell Labs ,USA in 1972. it is one of the most widely used language in the world.
- It was developed to overcome the problems of previous languages such as B, BCPL, etc.
- Initially, C language was developed to be used in UNIX operating system. It inherits many features of previous languages such as B and BCPL.
- C language is well-respected for its portability and low-level functionality.
- It is used to write high-performance code with faster execution
- It is portable and can be used to develop applications that can be adapted to multiple platforms.
Features and Key-points of C Language
- Simple - It is a simple language in the sense that programs can be broken down into small parts, has a rich liberary support and a variety of data-types.
- Machine Independent but not Platform Dependent - C programs can be executed on different machines with some machine specific changes.
- Middle-level Language - C is intended to do low-level programming. It is used to develop system applications such as kernel, driver, etc. It also supports the features of a high-level language.
- Memory Management - It supports the feature of Dynamic memory allocation. In C language, we can free the allocated memory at any time by calling the free() function.
- Faster execution - C programs are faster in execution. Since, it is a compiled language, and also highly procedural.
Advantages of C Programming
- C is the building block for many other programming languages.
- Programs written in C are highly portable.
- Several standard functions are there (like in-built) that can be used to develop programs.
- C programs are collections of C library functions, and it's also easy to add functions to the C library.
- The modular structure makes code debugging, maintenance, and testing easier.
Disadvantages of C Programming
- C does not provide Object Oriented Programming (OOP) concepts.
- There are no concepts of Namespace in C.
- C does not provide binding or wrapping up of data in a single unit.
- C does not provide Constructor and Destructor.
C Compilers and IDE
There ara many C compilers and IDEs are available which you can use to compile and run :
- Apple C. Xcode (Only supported by Apple OS.)
- Bloodshed Dev-C
- Turbo C/C++
- MINGW - "Minimalist GNU for Windows"
- Code::Blocks
- Notepad++
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We hope that this tutorial helped you develop better understanding of the concept of Introduction in C.
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