History Of The C Programming Language
By rajkishor09
Before we start any complex program in C, we must understand what really C is, how it came into existence and how it differs from other languages of that time. In this tutorial I will try to talk about these issues and then move towards view structure of a typical C program.
C is a programming language which born at “AT & T’s Bell Laboratories” of USA in 1972. It was written by Dennis Ritchie. This language was created for a specific purpose: to design the UNIX operating system (which is used on many computers). From the beginning, C was intended to be useful--to allow busy programmers to get things done.
Because C is such a powerful, dominant and supple language, its use quickly spread beyond Bell Labs. In the late 70’s C began to replace widespread well-known languages of that time like PL/I, ALGOL etc. Programmers everywhere began using it to write all sorts of programs. Soon, however, different organizations began applying their own versions of C with a subtle difference. This posed a serious problem for system developers. To solve this problem, the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) formed a committee in 1983 to establish a standard definition of C. This committee approved a version of C in 1989 which is known as ANSI C. With few exceptions, every modern C compiler has the ability to adhere to this standard. ANSI C was then approved by the International Standards Organization (ISO) in 1990.
Now, what about the name? Why it was named C, why not something else. The C language is so named because its predecessor was called B. The B language was developed by Ken Thompson of Bell Labs.
Why Use C?
In today's world of computer programming, there are many high-level languages to choose from, such as Pascal, BASIC, and Java. But C stands apart from all these languages. This is due to its many desirable qualities. It is a robust language whose rich set of built-in functions and operators can be used to write any complex logic program. The C language compiler combines the capabilities of a low level language with the features of a high level language. Therefore the language is suitable for writing both system software as well as business packages & other software. You will find many compilers available in the market written in C.
Advantages of C
• Program written in c are very efficient and fast. This is due to its variety of data types and powerful operators. It is many time faster than BASIC. This helps developers in saving their valuable time.
• C is a powerful and flexible language which helps system developers to deliver various complex tasks with ease. C is used for diverse projects as operating systems, word processors, graphics, spreadsheets, and even compilers for other languages.
• C is popular among professional programmers for programming, as a result, a wide variety of C compilers and helpful accessories are available.
• C is highly portable language. This means that a C program written for one computer system (an IBM PC, for example) can be run on another system (a DEC VAX system, perhaps) with little or no modification. Portability is enhanced by the ANSI standard for C, the set of rules for C compilers.
• C’s another striking feature is its ability to extend itself. A C program is basically a collection of various function supported by C library (also known as header files). We can also add our own functions to the C library. These functions can be reused in other applications or programs by passing pieces of information to the functions, you can create useful, reusable code.
• Writing C program with user-defined functions(UDF) makes program more simple and easy to understand. Breaking a problem in terms of functions makes program debugging, maintenance and testing easier.
As these features shows that C is an excellent choice for your first programming language. But what is C++? You might have heard this term C++ and the programming technique called Object-Oriented Programming (OOP). Possibly you're wondering what the differences are between C and C++ and whether you should learn C or C++.
C++ is a superset of C, means that C++ is the new improved version of C for the latest programming needs. It contains everything C does, plus new additions for OOP concept. If you will learn C++ later, you will find that almost everything which you learnt in C is applicable in C++ too. In learning C, you are not only learning one of today's most powerful and popular programming languages, but you are also preparing yourself for other similar programming languages.
Another language that has gotten lots of attention is Java for its OOP and portability. Java, just like C++, is based on C. If later you decide to learn Java, you will find that almost everything you learned about C applies here.
Further Reading Books
 | Amazon Price: $35.64 List Price: $67.00 |
 | Amazon Price: $24.00 List Price: $49.99 |
 | Amazon Price: $19.00 List Price: $39.99 |
 | Amazon Price: $66.39 |
|
Programming Video Games for the Evil Genius by Valdean C. Lembke, Thomas E....
Current Bid: $7.50
|
|
Stephens' C# Programming with Visual Studio 2010 24-Hou
Current Bid: $25.78
|
| No Photo |
Applications Programming in C++ by Martin Kalin, Ric...
Current Bid: $.95
|
|
C Programming Language (2nd Edition) by Brian W. Kerni
Current Bid: $27.98
|
|
5 Apple Mac iPhone Programming Books, Objective-C, Hillegass, Cocoa, iOS, etc...
Current Bid: $31.00
|
Your opinion
Did this help you to understand history of C language?
See results without votingRelated C Programming Tutorial Links
- C Programming Lesson - Call by Value and Call by Reference
Call by value and call by reference is the most confusing concept among new C language programmer. I also struggled with this, the reason may be my teacher is not explaining it in simple words or I was dumb. Whatever the reason is; here I will try to - C Programming Lesson - Writing Programs in C Programming
You might be thinking that you have learnt lot about C language background and now eagerly want to try your first program in C. To do so first of all you need a C compiler, I have been using Turbo C++... - C Programming Lesson - Data Types in C Language
A programming language is proposed to help programmer to process certain kinds of data and to provide useful output. The task of data processing is accomplished by executing series of commands called program. A program usually contains different type - How to swap two numbers without using third (temp) variable
This article explains how we can swap variable values without using third variable. There are different ways to do so and I tried including all know methods. You can get code in C, Java and C# language. - C Programming Lesson - Looping in C Programming, Types of Loop and Loop Example
Loop is one of the important parts of C language and study of C language is incomplete without this. So let’s head towards completion of our knowledge about C language. As a dedicated C language leaner, right now you should have two questions. What i - C Programming Lesson - For loop in c programming language and how for loop works
Along with while loop and do-while loop, for loop is also part of C programming language. For many programmers, for loop seems to be easiest loop comparing other two loops (while and do-while loop). Mainly its structure (syntactically) makes it easy - C Programming Lesson - Do-While Loop in C Programming and Difference Between While and Do-While Loop
If you are looking for what is loop and why we use loop in c language then you can check my article on that topic. This article is entirely dedicated to do-while loop and its usage. I must tell you that do-while loop is similar to while loop but only - C Programming Lesson - While loop in C Programming
I already explained what is loop and why we use loop in c language, and I am not going to repeat that here again. So we will start with while loop explanation. While loop is one of the simple loop available in C language.It’s very easy to use, lets c - C Programming Lesson - Array in C programming
An array in C language is a collection of similar data-type, means an array can hold value of a particular data type for which it has been declared. Arrays can be created from any of the C data-types int,... - How to work with Two Dimensional (2d) Arrays in C
We know how to work with an array (1D array) having one dimension. In C language it is possible to have more than one dimension in an array. In this tutorial we are going to learn how we can use two... - How to work with Multidimensional Array in C Programming
C allows array of two or more dimensions and maximum numbers of dimension a C program can have is depend on the compiler we are using. Generally, an array having one dimension is called 1D array, array... - C Programming Lesson - Function in C
A function in C language is a block of code that performs a specific task. It has a name and it is reusable i.e. it can be executed from as many different parts in a C Program as required. It also ... - C Programming Lesson - Types of Function
In my previous c programming tutorial I tried to explain what the function, its advantages is and how to declare a C function. And I told you that there are five types of functions and they are: ... - C Programming Lesson - Recursion in C language
We have learnt different types function C language and now I am going to explain recursive function in C. A function is called recursive if a statement within body of that function calls the same... - C Programming Lesson - Pointers
In this tutorial I am going to discuss what pointer is and how to use them in our C program. Many C programming learner thinks that pointer is one of the difficult topic in C language but its not... - C Programming Lesson - Function Pointer in c language
Like C variables, function too has address and we can use this address to invoke function. So this tutorial is entirely devoted to function-pointer. But before we can call a function using we need to find out... - C Programming Lesson - Structure in C
We used variable in our C program to store value but one variable can store only single piece information (an integer can hold only one integer value) and to store similar type of values we had to declare... - C Programming Lesson - Array of Structures in C Programming
Welcome back my readers; in this tutorial I am going to explain Arrays of Structures. This tutorial is advancement to my previous topicStructure at Work; if you missed the basic of structure then you... - C Programming - Basic Virtual Keyboard Application
To accomplish this task you dont need to buy any expensive software or hardware, only a little knowledge of C program will do and you can build your own musical keyboard software. Before we begin you... - C Programming Lesson - File Copy Program in C
Today we are going to learn a simple file copy program in C language. As I said this is a simple file copy program so you should not expect its output like DOS copy command has. Ok lets start. The main...
Useful Links
- Hack Google for Better Search Result
Google, on internet, by far is the most popular search engine which is used by about 80 percent of total internet users. Google’s this popularity is because of excellent search results with extensive range... - Extend Your Computer’s Life
A computer is a complex electronic device which we own proudly. But to remain its proud owner we need to take care of it. To extend life of computer, it must be regularly examined as we do for various... - New iPod Shuffle-Which Talks
Apple's new bouncing infant was born on Mar 16, 2009 and it already talks. Apple introduced a new music player Small Talk - iPod Shuffle (3rd generation) with a new sleeker bar shaped version. Apple claims... - What is LAN (Local Area Network) ?
LAN is acronyms of Local Area Network. LAN is required everywhere, whether it is office home or somewhere else. LAN is a small computer network (small version of internet) covering a small area like home,...
Comments
thanks ......................
thanks ......................
WHAT CAN I SAY ? HOW CAN I SAY I DONT KNOW
IT'S AMGN
thaks a lot
thx a lot
thanks
hi"
C language is a big thing for many students they knw hw to access and its help to use for any computer subject.
thank you
thx 4 a such a brief xplanation it helps more students
thanks for that i learn more from this
thanks for the info
thanx a lot history of c is very good
thank u very much
i learn lot tnx
it was very brief thanx
thanka a lot,
this information is more useful to us every student.once again THAKS A LOT...
thanku so much
thank you so much for such a great info.
thank u so much for giving good history about C language.
thanx for d wonderful info........
thankyou very much
tanx a lot
HIIIIIIIIIII THANKS FOR BRIEF HISTORY
Thank u very much
simple and usefull for every one ......thanx
It is very usefull information and giving completly details about C language,and also one good thing is giving the authors name to refer the books of C lang.
Thanks u very much
mgnda toh..
thanks
very nice
Thanx for valuable history
Thank u somuch hubpages i learn a very brief history of c language.
its nice work
AT&T means
nice information about c laguage histry
thank uuuuuuuu
thank uuuuuuuuuuuuuu
thanks a lot.......
thanks a lot.
nice information....
thank u
this is not enough information about c language
please describe clearly ans early with serialy.
thanks to brief learning about the c
I wanna know who was the first user scientist of C language?
thanks
thanks
thanx a lot
nice...
thank you....
thank you sooooooo much,,,,if you are not there,,,so ,,,
The information given by you on this webpage is very interesting and rare. You can't assume that the info given here, how helped me.
Thanks from the deepest level of my heart...
Thanxxxxx for ur valuable info.......
c is very difficult over than java
NICE
it helps a lot...thanks for the information
nice information about C language...thank you to your help.................
it is looking good yaar...
thankzzzz
AT & T means American Telephone and Telegraph company
thanks @Snigdha for your help...
thanx for valueable info about c......
thx a lot for givng a detail infrmtn which i have could not gained in detail without help of these
thankssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss
thankoo
i feel very good after feading this.thanks
I have one doubt. who got thought first for creation of 'c' language and also this much difficulty. what is the reason behind this language creation?????????????
youth rockzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
youth rokazzz
i feel so much happy in this lab.
thank u giving Gd information
Is Exception handling possible in C++ Language By Using Try Catch Block Which is used in Java and other Language. Please reply me on my email vijaysingla43@gmail.com
thank u for giving me best information
very useful and very helpful language thank you so much
very very use ful for c.programmmmmmm
very very very usefullllllllllllll!!!!!!!!
thankyou for giving information
thanks to give usefull information.
major...major thanks to the author......yepehhh
thenkw 4 info
very helpful .thanks
Thanko Soo Much For The Great Info :)
thank u so much for giving good history about C language.
Gada Gada Badhai HO Sir.......................
thank you for giving information about c-language its very helpful to many students like me... :)
many ,many thanxxxxxxxxxxxx alot for C.............
i like c parogaraming languag
tnxxxxxxx sa information
Its interesting to study about history of c language . Thanx a lot for ur info. . .
thanxs its very helpful :)
thank you
thax a lot...........
i m very appreciated u.....
really good
really good
i really proud of you sir,i like c programming language,my branch is cse,thanks a lot sir
thnx for the info...it helps me to answer my assignment....
Tanx so much for making it possible for me to become a programmer today with the aid of informations.
Thanx 4 this history its really very useful n there r more to learn.........
Its very nice
Thanks i realy appreciate...
thanx
i feel very good after feading this.thanks
thanx
hints are very useful.
thanx.................................................
good level of teaching
thank you for giving information about c-language its very helpful to many students like me... :)
wao ... helped me in viva a lot thanksssssssssss
thank u
it was helpful......
A lot of thanx for the usfl info....God bless u.
Thnks 4 supporting us
this info know only c history
you fully provide for detailed in A&B language
thnk u so mch
what is the abrivation of main in c
its gave me the knowledge that i don't know that is quite better for me but i need a more than this how is it possible
i'm a BCA student i don't know nothing.... its very tuff to study... and also very boring.....
I am really happy because this is very helpful to me to know about the 'c' language.
very clear brief history .. very easy to understand thanks for the luvly linesssss.....
thanq for history of c...........
Thank you
its more helpful for me
i wanna want to know about the A & B languages and the abrvation of c mainly thank uuuuuu
Yes, It's really helpful information about "C" but i want to know who is the owner of "C"? i mean which organization has developed "C"?
Thanx i learn so much from this
Thank you frnd, keep visiting for more info on programming languages....
thanks a lot
Thanxxxxxxxxxxx i learn a lot of information
sophieqd 3 years ago
A Brief History of the C Language
thanx alot for the useful info
keep hubbing :)