What is the C programming language?

History of C

C is a general-purpose programming language that was originally designed for and implemented on the UNIX operating system by Dennis Ritchie of Bell Labs in 1972. It is the successor of the B programming language which stems from BCPL (Basic Combined Programming Language) designed by Martin Richards in 1967. I guess the name makes sense now.

A Compiled Language

C is a compiled language. Compiled languages, unlike interpreted languages such as Python, undergoes a process called compilation by compiler programs that transforms humanly written codes into machine codes that can be understood by the computer.

Imagine writing a book in Indonesian and you want to reach audiences that solely speaks German. You might want to ask a translator to translate each words in your book from Indonesian to German before being distributed to German audiences. It would take some time translating every single word in the book, but when it is all done, German audiences might easily understand your book better and quicker!

Why C?

C is a middle-level programming language. It has easy-to-learn syntaxes akin to high-level languages while still giving functionalities and controls of low-level languages. Due to this, C can be used to write a wide variety of programs from systems programming (interface between the hardware and users such as operating systems, drivers, and embedded systems) to application softwares or even video games like DOOM.