Introduction to C || History of C Programming Language MSBTE

Introduction to C and History of C Programming Language MSBTE 

Introduction to C and  History of C Programming Language MSBTE 

Introduction :-

• It is good to begin the journey of learning programming with the C Language. Because C language is the one which survived from last four decades in the environment where every day newer languages are emerges and gone.
• To become a good programmer learning C is the first step because it will help you to perfect the basics required to learn any advance programming tools and technologies.
• C Programming helps you to understand working of a program and to enhance your programming logic. It also helps to visualize working of the computer.
• Before starting C programming let's know about what is C and its history.

What Is C Programming Language ? :-

• C is a general purpose structured programming language designed and written by Dennis Ritchie at AT & T's Bell Laboratories of USA in 1972. C is a middle level language because it combines both the features of high-level language and low-level language (like Assembly Language).
• C is very powerful programming language as well as it is more popular and widely used language. Since last 4 decades the popularity of C exists because it is reliable, simple and easy to use.

History of C Language :-

• 

  History Of C

  Before C language there were some languages like BASIC, COBOL, FORTRAN etc.
• These languages were developed for specific purpose.For example BASIC was used by beginners whereas COBOL was used for commercial purpose. And all engineering applications use FORTRAN.
• In 1960 ALGOL was developed by an International Committee to provide a single solution to all these purposes. ALGOL introduces the structured programming. But because of some of its drawbacks it would not able to popular.
• To reduce the drawbacks of ALGOL, a new language called Combined Programming Language (CPL) was developed at Cambridge and London universities in 1963.
• This language was hard to leam and difficult to implement. That's why this language doesn't become popular.
• As time passes (BCPL Basic Combined Programming Language) is developed by Martin Ritchie in 1967 at Cambridge University.
• Like other languages BCPL also get vanished as it was developed for specific application domains only.
• Many features of BCPL are inherited in language called B' which was developed by Ken Thompson in 1970.
• In AT and T Bell laboratory, the process of developing UNIX Operating System is the Origin of C language.
• Initially the UNIX operating system was being developed with BCPL.
• In 1972, due to dissatisfaction of some requirements in development process of UNIX new language is invented by Dennis Ritchie called the 'C' language.UNIX is then re-implemented with C language.
• C provides "strut" type due to which most of the UNIX kernel developed in C.
• C is influenced by BCPL and B. So as the next version of B, name given to newly created language as C.
• Up to 1977, further modifications in C are done by Ritchie and Stephen C. Johnson.
• After this, In 1978 Brian Kernighan and Dennis Ritchie adds some more features like long int and unsigned int data type in C.
• This language is then referred as K&R C.
• In 1989 C has been standardize by ANSI (American National Standard Institute) committee know as ANSIC
• Later it has been standardized by ISO (International Organization for Standardization committee for further improvements and named as ISO C .
• In 1999 Standardization committee introduces C99.