C is a general purpose programming language developed in the Bell telephone Laboratories by DENNIS RITCHIE in1972 that is extremely popular, simple and flexible. It is machine-independent, structured programming language which is used extensively in various applications.
It is an outgrowth of two earlier languages, called BCPL and B. It is a high-level programming language. However, often referred as a middle-level programming language; since it provides rich support to low-level programming constructs.
C was largely confined to use with bell laboratories until 1978, when Kernighan and Ritche published a definitive description of the language.
Numerous compilers had been written for computers of all sizes and many commercial applications had been developed . Most commercial implementations of c differed from Kernignhan and Ritchie's original definition.
All languages have a characteristic look. C has a variety of language characteristics that are largely a consequence of the original constricted development environment and its original applications implementation of an operating system. Some of the most significant characteristics of the languages are list below:
Let's see the programming languages that were developed before C language.
| Language | Year | Developed By |
|---|---|---|
| Algol | 1960 | International Group |
| BCPL | 1967 | Martin Richard |
| B | 1970 | Ken Thompson |
| Traditional C | 1972 | Dennis Ritchie |
| K & R C | 1978 | Kernighan & Dennis Ritchie |
| ANSI C | 1989 | ANSI Committee |
| ANSI/ISO C | 1990 | ISO Committee |
| C99 | 1999 | Standardization Committee |
Mainly C Language is used for Developing Desktop applications and system softwares. Some application of C language are given below.
Because of its portability and efficiency C is also used for variety of applications running under nearly all operating systems.
Because of its power, elegance, and portability, C will probably continue to flourish as preferred software development tool.
This is the function with which the operating system will start execution. Each and every C program must have one and only main() function, defined as follows.
Main()
{
variable declaration;
program statements;
}
All variables used in C language programs must declared. C variable declarations includes the name of the variable and its type.
executable statements must have variable declarations. An executable statement is an expression followed by semicolon or a control construct such as IF or an WHILE statement.