C is a general-purpose, procedural programming language that was developed by Dennis Ritchie at Bell Labs in the early 1970s. It is widely recognized for its efficiency, ability to provide low-level memory access, and exceptional portability across different computer systems. These characteristics have made C one of the most influential programming languages in computer science history.
C language is characterized by several key features that make it unique among programming languages. First, it offers exceptional efficiency and speed in program execution, making it ideal for performance-critical applications. Second, C provides direct memory management capabilities, allowing programmers to have precise control over system resources. Third, it has minimal runtime overhead, meaning programs run with very little additional system burden. Fourth, C enables close-to-hardware programming, giving developers access to low-level system functions. Finally, it follows a structured programming approach, promoting clear and organized code development.
A basic C program follows a specific structure that includes several essential components. At the top, we have preprocessor directives like include statements that tell the compiler which libraries to use. The main function serves as the entry point where program execution begins. Inside functions, we declare variables, write statements and expressions that perform operations, and typically end with a return statement. This simple Hello World example demonstrates the fundamental structure: it includes the standard input-output library, defines the main function, prints a message, and returns zero to indicate successful execution.