Importance of C Programming Language

Importance of C Programming Language

C is a procedural language that supports structured programming; it has a static system and a compiler written in C itself. Since its release, C has become a milestone in computing history and has become the most critical component throughout the computer industry.

Dennis Ritchie wrote an article explaining the reason for C's success which are enumerated as follows:

• The success of Unix was the most important factor as Unix used C for building its utilities, and its success had carried C.

• C remained a simple and small language meant for building system components. C was held to be sufficiently abstract that humans can read – which is why C is considered a middle-level language.

• C was not designed in isolation but to write useful tools that interact with large systems. C is regarded as a tool for building larger tools. Moreover, C's core library covers the essential needs of most programmers but does not supply too much of it.

Because C works very closely with the processor, performance-critical applications are mostly written in C, and because of its unmatched popularity programming languages derived a familiar C-style syntax along with the set of constructs that came with C (e.g., pointers, macros, etc.). C has become the backbone of modern computing systems – operating systems, compilers, interpreters, third-party libraries, and databases. In addition, C is a small language that is designed to cost minimal performance overhead which makes it ideal for embedded systems.

Systems that are Programmed in the C Language

Operating Systems, at their core, are commonly implemented in C as they deal with finer grains of control and do not need a lot of abstraction that C++ or Rust – a language that exists in system-level programming – offers. As a result, Windows, Linux, Mac, and Android have kernel implementation written in C while other utilities are written in other languages – C++, C#, Objective-C, Java, and Rust.

We can observe that the choice of languages in OS implementation varies as per the context of utility purposes. That is to say, at the very core, C is held with close importance for critical sections of the OS.

Microsoft Windows

• According to an OS engineer from Microsoft, the Windows Kernel and its utilities are almost entirely written in C, C++, and C# for Windows while some areas of code are written in assembly (Waite, 2009).

Linux

• Linux Kernel. Linus Torvalds noted that the choice of C is the only sane choice arguing that C++ and other languages should not be used in the kernel (Torvalds, 2007).

Mac

• OS X. The OS X architecture is shown below. At the Kernel and Core of OS X are utilities written in C and C++ (Halvorsen & Clarke, 2012). The language choice for C and C++ is evidently due to performance-critical areas of the software.

Mobile

• Android OS. According to an article from Wikipedia noted that Android OS is written on top of the Linux kernel. We can observe the layering of the Android OS below.

Databases

As you can imagine crafting a database means managing memory. Database vendors consider efficient memory use as well as performance for retrieving contents in a database. Because of this, the world's leading database SQL vendors (Oracle and MySQL) decided to build their infrastructure in C. For embedded applications, SQLite3 has notably stated that the C programming language is used due to its portability on hardware and about any operating system (SQLite, 2021).

3D Movies

3D movies involve a lot of scene rendering and animations which are tasks that are both computationally intensive and resource expensive. Software systems that enable creators to render 3D graphics like AudoDesk, Blender, and Adobe AFX need to consider a language that uses computer resources very well with a very minimal overhead which lends itself to using C/C++.

Embedded Systems

C is an economical language of choice for a domain that puts a hard limit on computing resources –limited computing power, memory, and so on. C provides you the tools to manually manage memory and make processes more efficient.

10 Most Important Features of C Language

1. Simple and Efficient:

   • C language is known for its simple and easily comprehensible syntax, making it an excellent choice for beginners. The simplicity of C facilitates efficient application development and redesign.

2. Fast:

   • Being a statically typed programming language and compiler-based, C exhibits faster execution compared to dynamic languages. Its focus on essential features enhances speed, avoiding the overhead associated with more feature-rich languages.

3. Portability:

   • C programs are machine-independent, allowing code to run on various systems with minimal or no machine-specific modifications. This portability feature makes C versatile for deployment on different platforms.

4. Extensibility:

   • C enables quick and easy extension of programs. Existing code can be altered to add new features, functionalities, and operations without extensive modifications, providing flexibility to programmers.

5. Function-Rich Libraries:

   • C comes with an extensive set of libraries that include built-in functions, simplifying coding for programmers. The availability of a vast array of functions allows the development of diverse programs and applications.

6. Dynamic Memory Management:

   • C supports dynamic memory management (DMA), allowing the allocation and management of data structure size during runtime. Functions like malloc(), calloc(), realloc(), and free() facilitate effective memory utilization.

7. Modularity With Structured Language:

   • C's modularity, coupled with its structured nature, enables breaking code into different parts using functions. These functions can be stored as libraries for future use, enhancing code organization and reusability.

8. Mid-Level Programming Language:

   • Originally developed for low-level programming, C has evolved to support high-level programming features, making it a mid-level language. It combines the advantages of both low and high-level languages, allowing direct hardware manipulation.

9. Structured Language:

   • C is a general-purpose structured language that promotes code organization through functions. This structured approach enhances code readability, reduces errors, and facilitates future maintenance.

10. Support for Hardware Manipulation:

    • While initially designed for low-level programming, C's evolution includes support for high-level programming features. It uniquely allows direct manipulation of hardware, a capability not typically offered by high-level programming languages.

Advantages in Learning C Programming

• C gives you low-level control for creating efficient and highly performant programs.
• C is a small and simple language to learn – it only has 32 keywords. Likewise, there are no set prerequisites to start programming in C.
• Because of C's simplicity the design space eliminates the burden of bulk systems which results in the simpler implementation of design decisions.
• C is highly portable because it is designed to be portable. Portable programs can run on different systems with little or no modification.
• High-level programming language libraries rely heavily upon a C module. Python, Julia, MATLAB, and R rely on C. Designing a wrapper between a high-level language to gain performance almost always lends itself to writing a C module.
• Because of C's unmatched popularity over decades, programming languages took inspiration in their design and syntax. That said, learning C first will give a very solid foundation to explore the sea of modern programming languages. Put another way, if you want to have a solid grasp of programming concepts starting with C.
  • The list of C's family is outlined here.

Why C Programming Language Still Used to Date?

There are few areas of modern computing use C, but in those areas C is almost the only language of choice that gets the job done. The list below enumerates applications that make great use of C:

C gives you tremendous speed in raw performance. It works very closely with the metal which gives you a lot of room to optimize and manage memory effectively. Because of its low-level accessibility, it is best suited for system-level programming. Moreover, C powers high-performance computing libraries such as NumPy, SciPy, and OpenCV to mention a few.

Additionally, C is a highly portable language which makes it a great choice for libraries that are meant to support different configurations of the machine.

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