CHAPTER-1 INTRODUCTION OF C PROGRAMMING LANGUAGE(PART1)

First of all we should know what is language ?

 

Ans : A language is a system of communication which consists of a set of sounds and written symbols which are used by the people of a particular country or region for talking or writing. While talking to computer language i.e. programming language ,"It is a formal language that comprises a set of instructions for producing different kinds of output accordingly. "

Introduction to C Language 

• C is a Procedural programming language. This means there will a series of statements inside a procedure (function) that needs to be carried out.
• C is a programming language that is developed at AT & T's Bell Laboratories of USAin  1972 and it is designed and written by Dennis Ritchie.
• C11 is the latest stable version released in 2011 December. This is supported by all major C compilers.
• C is a middle level programming language.
• Many other programming languages like Java, Go, C# have been heavily influenced by C.
• C programming allows static and dynamic memory management.
• During 1970 and 1980 many versions of C have been implemented. Hence in 1989 ANSI C was introduced and was later accepted by ISO in 1990.
• All the C source file will be saved as .c file extension. Example “hello.c”
• All the C header file will be saved as .h file extension. Example “stdio.h”
• C started to replace languages of that time like PL/I , ALGOL, FORTRAN etc.

  

Features of C language:

• Robust
• Portable
• Fast
• Simple and easy to learn
• Extensible

Why to learn C language 

There are several reasons for this. These are as follows :

1.  Major parts of popular OS(Operating Systems) like Windows, Unix, Linux are still written in C.
2. Embedded systems use C language. Like processors of Smart Phones, Digital cameras , Washing machines etc.
3.  To interact with the hardware devices C is used.
4. Different 3D computer games are still written in C (not all the codes but majority).

Disadvantages of C language:

• Not an object-oriented language.
• Some code needs to be recompiled when running on a different machine.
• No constructors and destructors .
• There is no runtime checking. An error is known only after execution of a c program.
• There is no strict type checking. In C programming language we can send integer value for a float data type.
• No data security is available.

NOTE: C is able to access low-level memory of hardware. This helps a programmer to develop efficient code. Hence C language is called as a middle-level programming language.