Why is C Language Case Sensitive?

Overview

The C language is considered to be case-sensitive. "Hello learner" and "HELLO LEARNER" are both phrases that have the same meaning, but the difference is that all the characters are in upper case in the second phrase. Both phrases are the same for a human, but for a C compiler, both words are different. That is, C language treats upper case characters and lower case characters as different. This explains why it is a case-sensitive language.

The reason why c language is case-sensitive is that the keywords in C are case-sensitive. Making the keywords, case-insensitive would have made the compiler slower. Case-sensitive design is simpler for computers.

What is Meant by Case Sensitivity in C Language?

The C language is case-sensitive. This means that all language keywords, identifiers, function names, and other variables must be entered with consistent letter capitalization. C language can distinguish between upper case and lower case characters and treat the keywords and identifiers accordingly.

What is Meant by Case-Sensitive Programming Language?

A programming language that can differentiate between upper case and lower case characters is known as a case-sensitive language. Many programming languages such as C, C#, C++, Java, Python, Ruby, Swift, etc. can differentiate between upper case and lower case characters, making it case sensitive language. Whereas languages such as ABAP, Ada, Fortran, Pascal, etc., consider both upper case and lower case characters are the same, making them case insensitive or not case sensitive languages.

Let us try to print "Hello World" using a C program. We can use the printf() function to output in the C language. The syntax of the print function in C is printf(). Changing the capitalization of the syntax will result in an error. This can be seen in the below example.

Code:

Output:

Explanation: If we observe the error shown by the compiler, we can see that in line 5 there is an error, the compiler suggests using printf instead of Printf. This example explains C is a case-sensitive language. This gives the answer to the question is c language case sensitive.

Are there any Command Prompts that are Case Sensitive?

Windows command prompts are case insensitive, i.e., windows command prompt doesn't differentiate between uppercase and lowercase. macOS is case insensitive by default. That is, MacOS does not differentiate between upper case and lower case characters. Users can manually enable the case sensitivity in MacOS as per the user's preference.

What kind of Operating System is Case Sensitive?

Operating systems such as Linux and other UNIX - based operating systems differentiate between upper case and lower case characters, making them case sensitive. On the other hand, Windows command prompts are largely case insensitive; that is, the capitalization of characters does not matter while working in windows command prompts. macOS is generally case insensitive by default and can be changed as per user preference.

Conclusion

C language is a case-sensitive language.
Case sensitivity in C language helps to compile the C programs faster.
Case sensitivity means both upper and lower case characters are treated differently.
Windows command prompt does not differentiate between upper case and lower case characters, making it case insensitive.
macOS file system is generally case insensitive by default. The user can change the case sensitivity as per the user's preference.