C programming language, a programming milestone 50 years old

One of the programming languages The oldest and most widely used programming language today is C. This historic programming language will be half a century old in 2022.

Thus, it was in 1972 that the American computer scientist Dennis Ritchie created the C programming language.

It was originally designed as an improvement of language B. That's where it even got its name. The C programming language was used to create the Unix operating system, making it possible to implement the popular PDP-11 minicomputers.

C code is characterised by its efficiencyIt is therefore one of the most widely used languages for designing system software.

C programming language: definition

The C programming language is considered to be one of the most important programming languages today. Its flexibility gives the computer programmer a great deal of freedom; however, it has a low level of error checking, so that the responsibility of the professional is total.

In addition to the development of operating systems, C is key in the creation of apps and supports more modern languages such as Java, C++ or C#.

On the other hand, C is composed of a base in which the different functions are stored in the form of code blocks and thus operate on the marked parameters.

C language features

What are the main features of the C programming language? Below are the properties of C:

• Structured programming: C is a structured language.
• It is not hardware dependent: In this way, it is possible to migrate to different operating systems.
• Category: It is a medium-level programming language.
• Multitasking: In this sense, it does not have a specific task, so it can be used to program everything from operating systems to apps, from spreadsheets to videogames.
• Flexibility: As we have already mentioned, this will provide absolute freedom for the computer programmer.
• Rapid development: Fast programme creation and high capacity.
• Composition: Although the number of keywords is small, the C programming language is rich in data types, operators and variables.
• A processing language: The C preprocessor is used to define the macros in order to include different source code files.

C syntax

In order to know what C is, it is important to note that this programming language is the 'father' of later programming languages such as PHP, Objective-C or JavaScript, among others. This means that C syntax is similar to the above.

Syntax is the format in which different computer programs are created. In particular, the C syntax has different rules and processes that drive the structure of a program.

It should be noted that the C programming language is case-sensitive, so it is programmed in lower case letters.

In addition, the minimum unit of the C programming language is the token. Tokens are small blocks of code that can be variables, constants, keywords, identifiers... in short, symbols that comprise C or sentences of this programming language.

On the other hand, like the Python librariesAmong the most outstanding libraries of this programming language, we can mention several examples such as stdio.h, conio.h or time.h.

Why C programming: Advantages of this programming language?

The C programming language is very efficient and offers the possibility to handle all aspects of CPU instructions. Its code offers a clear structure and therefore facilitates the creation of applications in a fast and powerful way.

Also, having a limited number of keywords makes it quicker to learn. C optimises the computer's memory as much as possible and predisposes structured data.

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