C (programming language)

C is a programming language designed by at AT&T  in 1972 for systems programming on the  and immediately used to reimplement Unix.

History
It was called "C" because many features were derived from Ritchie's earlier compiler, developed with, named "". In fact, C was briefly named "NB". B was itself strongly influenced by. Before settled the question by designing, there was a humorous debate over whether C's successor should be named "D" or "P" (following B and C in "BCPL"). Ritchie's original C is known as after Kernighan and Ritchie's book. A modified version has been as.

Reception
Partly due to its distribution with Unix, C became immensely popular outside after about 1980 and is now the dominant language in systems and microcomputer applications programming. It has grown popular due to its simplicity, efficiency, and flexibility. C is terse, low-level, and permissive; its programs are often easily adapted to new environments. It includes its own macro known as.

C is often described, with a mixture of fondness and disdain, as "a language that combines all the elegance and power of assembly language with all the readability and maintainability of assembly language".