C

C was created around 1970s to make Unix tool writing easier. It was meant to the be the simplest, lightest, human readable code on top of assembly.

• C is procedural: you write functions and compose them, instead of defining types
• C++ is procedural (mostly), but you can have objects: you still write functions, and can build objects and call methods
• Java is actual oop

We use C because its fast, highly efficient. C is popular for systems programming, OSes, networking, etc. Lets you work at a lower level to understand/manipulate the underlying systems.

principles of C

• small, simple abstractions
• minimalist aesthetic
• efficiency and simplicity over safety and high-level abstractions

C limitations

• no advanced features
  • operator overloading
  • default arguments
  • pass by reference
  • classes, objects
  • abstract data types
• no extensive libs
  • no networking
  • no graphics
• no safety (“people who write C think they don’t make mistakes”)
  • weak compiler
  • no runtime checks at all