C

since 1972 (earliest usage recorded on this site was 1979)

C is an imperative (procedural) systems implementation language. It was designed to be compiled using a relatively straightforward compiler, to provide low-level access to memory, to provide language constructs that map efficiently to machine instructions, and to require minimal run-time support. C was therefore useful for many applications that had formerly been coded in assembly language.

Despite its low-level capabilities, the language was designed to encourage machine-independent programming. A standards-compliant and portably written C program can be compiled for a very wide variety of computer platforms and operating systems with little or no change to its source code. The language has become available on a very wide range of platforms, from embedded microcontrollers to supercomputers.

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Technology Timeline Graph

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sceptreofjudah

mnulli

danceswithvowels

brucehoult

growe

yacitus

jma

jancona

jorjun

AndyC

vangale

avowkind

Cema

undoingemptyvoid

dfan

abtin

takitimu

jeffself

ironfort

bhaugen

boutell

adamv

gnat

doughellmann

RCARDENES

coordt

r1chardj0n3s

tartley

dabeaz

kan

eMBee

wilane

bittercoder

tlesher

fdrake

David

thumper

mpirnat

edd

notanumber

ndw

jtauber

Uche

liza

hexdump42

bmaxwell

k_wade_a

jbeigel

morgs

carljm

Zak

otherchirps

Josh

zellyn

sfaruque

kevinpet

bob

zephyrfalcon

jdunck

greyfade

empty

jefftriplett

fogus

shiny

mfandreas

twhitton

enki

brousch

thraxil

mu2

Atrujillo

bitprophet

mallipeddi

givas

xyb

ericflo

vitaliyf

robhudson

drakkos

bkmontgomery

rogerclark

sbastn

dasil003

trey

sebleier

rragan

zeroaltitude

paltman

davidpaccoud

johnny723

nsmgr8

brettsky

lambacck

bg4

Sitwon

larry

spookylukey

shywolf9982

Sitwonade

esevland

jjames

jasonb

adityo

benjaminws

bocke

xhae

kratorius

ntoll

adamcik

z3d

ch0llima

shaung

james

soryu2

luchak

joe

michaelmelanson

ghoseb

anoop

Swizec

smalltobi

westonruter

noah

eddymul

SeanOC

gregmuellegger

quakehead

dmnd

natevw

sanchom

jackboot7

ellisonleao

osiixy

Kanru

collypops

cstejerean

bkokash

CerealBoy

passy

CrociDB

honzakral

brosner

thingie

jmillikin

gnubardt

durden

Kami

madewulf

bkopanja

d3f3nd3r

ranman

chrisbrett665

nbprithv

amackera

myles

Da_Nuke

brutasse

jamesotron

timus

audreyr

gabrielrios

rilt

akgerber

nullomodo

jah

Indy

isardana

sdhamilton

NX172

Maradatscha

wzzrd

moriogawa

daniellindsley

gniero

Rgoodermote

GordyBrow

stevejohnson

bkad

mccolgan

alex

aaront

qwertymz

perimosocordiae

thaostra

ShawnMilo

jonnyboris

dekz

mrlemke

nightfly19

devien

barneyboo

threefjefff

ssbr

MichaelTran

alexsuraci

skyl

MechanisM

branesks

janewilson90

filipe_mp

mgill25

mantovani

sceptreofjudah - 35 years

mnulli - 35 years

danceswithvowels - 33 years

dl - 33 years

brucehoult - 32 years

growe - 32 years

yacitus - 31 years

jma - 30 years

jancona - 29 years

jorjun - 1 years

AndyC - 29 years

vangale - 29 years

avowkind - 28 years

Cema - 28 years

undoingemptyvoid - 19 years

dfan - 11 years

abtin - 27 years

takitimu - 20 years

jeffself - 27 years

ironfort - 7 years

bhaugen - 3 years

boutell - 26 years

adamv - 26 years

gnat - 26 years

doughellmann - 10 years

RCARDENES - 25 years

coordt - 12 years

r1chardj0n3s - 24 years

tartley - 8 years

dabeaz - 24 years

kan - 4 years

eMBee - 3 years

wilane - 24 years

bittercoder - 13 years

af - 23 years

tlesher - 23 years

fdrake - 23 years

David - 23 years

thumper - 22 years

mpirnat - 5 years

edd - 22 years

notanumber - 22 years

ndw - 3 years

jtauber - 22 years

Uche - 22 years

liza - 4 years

hexdump42 - 8 years

bmaxwell - 21 years

k_wade_a - 21 years

jbeigel - 21 years

morgs - 21 years

carljm - 21 years

Zak - 21 years

otherchirps - 7 years

Josh - 20 years

zellyn - 5 years

sfaruque - 17 years

kevinpet - 7 years

bob - 20 years

zephyrfalcon - 20 years

jdunck - 20 years

greyfade - 19 years

empty - 19 years

jefftriplett - 8 years

fogus - 19 years

shiny - 19 years

mfandreas - 19 years

twhitton - 19 years

enki - 19 years

brousch - 4 years

thraxil - 19 years

mu2 - 8 years

Atrujillo - 19 years

bitprophet - 3 years

mallipeddi - 18 years

givas - 18 years

xyb - 7 years

ericflo - 18 years

vitaliyf - 18 years

robhudson - 18 years

drakkos - 18 years

bkmontgomery - 18 years

rogerclark - 18 years

sbastn - 3 years

dasil003 - 8 years

trey - 6 years

sebleier - 17 years

rragan - 17 years

zeroaltitude - 17 years

paltman - 17 years

davidpaccoud - 17 years

johnny723 - 1 years

nsmgr8 - 17 years

brettsky - 16 years

lambacck - 16 years

bg4 - 5 years

Sitwon - 16 years

larry - 16 years

spookylukey - 16 years

shywolf9982 - 8 years

Sitwonade - 16 years

esevland - 8 years

jjames - 6 years

jasonb - 3 years

adityo - 15 years

benjaminws - 15 years

bocke - 15 years

xhae - 15 years

kratorius - 14 years

ntoll - 4 years

adamcik - 14 years

z3d - 1 years

ch0llima - 14 years

shaung - 14 years

james - 13 years

soryu2 - 2 years

luchak - 13 years

joe - 13 years

michaelmelanson - 13 years

ghoseb - 13 years

anoop - 13 years

Swizec - 13 years

smalltobi - 13 years

westonruter - 3 years

noah - 13 years

eddymul - 13 years

SeanOC - 2 years

gregmuellegger - 12 years

quakehead - 12 years

dmnd - 12 years

natevw - 12 years

sanchom - 12 years

jackboot7 - 12 years

ellisonleao - 11 years

osiixy - 11 years

Kanru - 11 years

collypops - 11 years

cstejerean - 2 years

bkokash - 2 years

CerealBoy - 5 years

passy - 11 years

CrociDB - 11 years

honzakral - 10 years

brosner - 10 years

thingie - 10 years

jmillikin - 10 years

gnubardt - 10 years

durden - 10 years

Kami - 10 years

gg - 10 years

madewulf - 9 years

bkopanja - 2 years

d3f3nd3r - 9 years

ranman - 9 years

chrisbrett665 - 9 years

nbprithv - 4 years

amackera - 9 years

myles - 4 years

Da_Nuke - 9 years

brutasse - 1 years

jamesotron - 1 years

timus - 8 years

audreyr - 8 years

gabrielrios - 8 years

rilt - 7 years

akgerber - 7 years

nullomodo - 7 years

jah - 7 years

Indy - 7 years

isardana - 7 years

sdhamilton - 7 years

NX172 - 7 years

Maradatscha - 7 years

wzzrd - 7 years

moriogawa - 6 years

daniellindsley - 2 years

gniero - 6 years

Rgoodermote - 6 years

GordyBrow - 6 years

stevejohnson - 6 years

bkad - 3 years

mccolgan - 6 years

alex - 6 years

aaront - 6 years

qwertymz - 2 years

perimosocordiae - 6 years

thaostra - 5 years

ShawnMilo - 5 years

jonnyboris - 5 years

dekz - 5 years

mrlemke - 5 years

nightfly19 - 5 years

devien - 5 years

barneyboo - 1 years

threefjefff - 5 years

ssbr - 5 years

MichaelTran - 5 years

alexsuraci - 5 years

skyl - 4 years

MechanisM - 4 years

branesks - 4 years

janewilson90 - 4 years

filipe_mp - 4 years

mgill25 - 4 years

mantovani - 4 years

mnulli

1979–

My main language, still. What finally got me off FORTRAN :-)

sceptreofjudah

1979–

I started studying Kernighan & Ritchie in 1979 with the intention of eventually using a higher level language for development work (I had been hand coding and using assembler). I didn't actually use it in a production environment until 1982 or so with a PC running Xenix for video games. Starting in 1984, I used it on Vax VMS and SunOS for real time vision processing systems and various control systems.

danceswithvowels

1981–

It was way more fun than FORTRAN!

1981–

growe

1982–

I learned C the classic way - by reading the first edition of Kernighan & Ritchie. Although a difficult language in which to write anything large due to its lack of OO features, it is still good for learning the way computers handle code and memory on an intimate level.

brucehoult

1982–

University was Pascal/Modula2 on VAXen, but there was a C compiler, plus a Zilog System 8000 running Unix in '83. Have never stopped since. A reasonable portable assembly language.

yacitus

1983–

Even though C was the programming language used in many of the 3rd & 4th year computer science courses at the University of Calgary, there was no course offered in it. (That was probably for the best.) We were expected to teach ourselves. I did so before I needed to, as I walked by a lab that had the first vector graphics workstation I ever saw, and saw a primitive (though it didn't seem so at the time) 1st-person shooter game and asked what language it was programmed in. The answer was C, of course. Since then, I don't think a year has gone by where I haven't used the language. I continue to like it.

jma

1984–

jorjun

1985

Learned on IBM PC AT. Amazed at the speed, not thrilled the about crash-reboot cycles. Decided early on this was not my scene.

AndyC

1985–

Started using C on an NCR Tower system. Still using it on Arduino microporcessors

jancona

1985–

I bought a copy of K&R at the bookstore in Littleton, NH and got a copy of Eco-C for my Xerox 820 CP/M machine. I still do some C programming today, 25 years later.

vangale

1985–

Also learned from reading 1st Ed. K&R. Was rocky early on due to poor quality of compilers for MS-DOS but have used this most of my career. Only language I love more is Python.

undoingemptyvoid

1986–2004

Started by self teaching from K&R. The best book ever for a language - short and get real work done. Took lab at university and did not use again until some work on legacy CAD system code.

Cema

1986–

Learned it while in college, but started extensively using it only after graduation (1991).

avowkind

1986–

First used Turbo C. Then Zorland, then MS Visual Studio. Still occasionally maintaining C modules. Still the sharpest knife in the box.

dfan

1986–1996

jeffself

1987–

takitimu

1987–2006

Rarely use it now, started off doing graphics programming in C, was still using it alot until 2000

abtin

1987–

gnat

1988–

Learned C on my first IBM-compatible computer. Taught myself from Kernighan and Ritchie ("the White Book"). Wrote a windowing library (like curses) for money. Then got to university and was taught about memory management and realised why the library crashed all the time.

ironfort

1988–1994

boutell

1988–

I have written monstrous amounts of WIN32 C code, Linux C code, portable ANSI C code. But not lately. I also wrote about eight chapters of a free text on ANSI C programming which is still floating around and enjoyed a burst of popularity as a C primer for PalmOS developers, though it never mentioned PalmOS. I'm most frequently blamed for the gd library, which of course is written in C although most people know it due to its inclusion in PHP.

bhaugen

1988–1990

Interfaces to digitizers

adamv

1988–

doughellmann

1989–1998

I switched to Python and haven't looked back.

RCARDENES

1989–

Had a first bad experience with it, because I was still too young and the documentation that I got along with the compiler was sub-par. It's become one of my primary languages since.

wilane

1990–

Roots

eMBee

1990–1992

learned it in an evening class at a community college

kan

1990–1993

dabeaz

1990–

Learned on the job when writing scientific software. One of my favorite programming languages that I still use now.

coordt

1990–2001

r1chardj0n3s

1990–

Introduced in the first year of Uni. Non-ANSI, of course. ANSI came later :-)

tartley

1990–1997

1991–

Did my first "real" programming in C.

bittercoder

1991–2003

I learnt C and C++ at the same time. Did briefly work on an a DOS accounting product written in C while I was at school, it was my first experience of header file hell :) Still read C/C++ code, but don't write any these days (useful skill to have to understand algorithm examples).

David

1991–

fdrake

1991–

tlesher

1991–

At University they taught C in the first semester freshman CS courses, and C++ in the second semester. I somehow placed out of first semester but ended up learning C on the side when I started running a DikuMUD (ElnathMUD).

jtauber

1992–

liza

1992–1995

Only in college.

edd

1992–

Started with the DICE compiler on the Amiga

thumper

1992–

Part of Comp.Sci degree. Unfortunately found too much C++ which was still mostly C (calloc and memset(this, 0, ...) of all things).

1992–

1992–1994

1992–

1992–1999

1992–1996

1993–

Took lessons from my uncle. Created a 3x3 "pawn battle" graphical game for the first significant project. In college I ran a MUD based on CircleMUD and hacked on that some. I still touch C occasionally for a Python extension, but not often.

otherchirps

1993–1999

k_wade_a

1993–

Zak

1993–

They told me all "real programming" was done in C. That probably set me back 10 years. I wish someone had given me Smalltalk as a child.

morgs

1993–

University CS. IBM terminals hanging off a 486. Lots of segmentation faults...

jbeigel

1993–

bmaxwell

1993–

zellyn

1994–1998

Never much since college.

1994–

1994–

1994–2000

1994–2010

Good old C. This language started the fork of so many other languages.

jdunck

1994–

My first real job was doing data entry for MCI. I smoked, and a developer on their CAD customization team did, too. Chatting one day, he mentioned they were thinking of bringing on a co-op. I told him I'd done a little programming, and would love a shot. They gave me one. I started learning C at night, and faking it by day. I did OK. I've dabbled in C since.

Josh

1994–

empty

1995–

Picked it up to write a UUCP application to provide my company with email. I still love C a lot.

jefftriplett

1995–2002

My coursework was in C and some of my other projects.

fogus

1995–

shiny

1995–

mostly embedded stuff

greyfade

1995–

Got Internet access, discovered DJGPP.

mfandreas

1995–

twhitton

1995–

C was my first programming experience. Unfortunately, I didn't start with K&R or any formalized instruction. Instead, I poured over the docs included with the Borland C compiler I'd downloaded from a local BBS and painstakingly assembled a Pong program. The fact that it worked is a small miracle considering that I had no idea what I was doing. I've been back and forth with C ever since.

enki

1995–

brousch

1995–1998

Only used it in CS classes at the University of Michigan

thraxil

1995–

mu2

1995–2002

Lets C :P

Atrujillo

1995–

Mi lenguaje preferido

sbastn

1996–1998

Learned at my first year of university. I wrote my first prank on this language. Something that pretended to be a virus but was a joke.

drakkos

1996–

Learned in university, plus was my 'first language' for a long time.

vitaliyf

1996–

ericflo

1996–

bitprophet

1996–1998

Dabbled with it via CodeWarrior on a Performa as a teenager. Didn't really go anywhere interesting.

bkmontgomery

1996–

Ahhh... "fond" memories of "Structured Programming 1" as a Freshman in college :)

trey

1996–2001

One computer science class (taken twice).

robhudson

1996–

Learned C from a course in college but have done very little professionally with it.

dasil003

1996–2003

C was how I cut my teeth on machine architecture and low-level programming. Since leaving school I've mostly done web and shell programming, but the lessons of C last a lifetime.

mallipeddi

1996–

givas

1996–

Done my first serious programming in C.

rogerclark

1996–

xyb

1996–2002

nsmgr8

1997–

Despite all the criticism and crafts, I love this language. My first ever serious programming started with this and I am grateful for that. It made me learn a lot of computing and programming. I still use it, will use it.

paltman

1997–

sebleier

1997–

zeroaltitude

1997–

I continue to find myself running against the grain as far as C goes. I love it. If I am doing something low-level with networking, imaging or filesystem stuff, it's my go-to language. Modern libraries and APIs, such as are present in APR, ImageMagic and libcurl, soften the blow of the harder parts of working in C.

rragan

1997–

davidpaccoud

1997–

The UNIX world natural language. My first work language.

johnny723

1997

Only used it in one computer science course, never touch it afterwards.

shywolf9982

1998–2005

Started using it in HS, we had 8hr/week of it (tech. class). As Linus says "it's not a real language, just a way to write semi-portable assembly". But is good at that.

brettsky

1998–

First language learned in junior college.

bg4

1998–2002

University work and independent study with professor.

lambacck

1998–

jjames

1998–2003

I decided to learn C by building a TCP socket server which morphed into an IRC chat like system which morphed into a MUD. During this time I grew my first serious beard. It helped me think just hard enough not to segfault.

Sitwon

1998–

Was introduced to the internet, saw the movie Hackers... I wanted to be a "hacker" and it seemed like learning C was the way to do it...

esevland

1998–2005

spookylukey

1998–

Sitwonade

1998–

Was introduced to the internet, saw the movie Hackers... I wanted to be a "hacker" and it seemed like learning C was the way to do it...

larry

1998–

benjaminws

1999–

I have a love/hate relationship with C..

jasonb

1999–2001

gets things done

adityo

1999–

xhae

1999–

Couldn't use *nix without it.

bocke

1999–

adamcik

2000–

First language learned, using old C book from 1982. Only used now and then.

kratorius

2000–

ntoll

2000–2003

Learned it (and C++) during evening classes while I was still a music teacher. Used it extensively during my MSc. Never had need of it since.

ch0llima

2000–

Dabbled with it when I first got into programming, using "C For Dummies Vols 1 and 2" grabbed from Amazon using my mum's credit card. Never made that much progress with it; I lost interest and tried to tackle projects that were far too difficult for me at that stage.

z3d

2000

shaung

2000–

westonruter

2001–2003

Superseded by C++

joe

2001–

soryu2

2001–2002

Every programmer should have used C to understand the basic concepts of types, memory management and pointers.

2001–

2001–

2001–

2001–

2001–

2001–

Learned C at school. Used it extensively for the development on various embedded systems for the usage on trains. I love it :-)

2001–

2001–

2001–

2002–

It took me a frustratingly long time to figure out pointers, but once things clicked... I could at last become fluent in the computer's native language!

jackboot7

2002–

dmnd

2002–

sanchom

2002–

I was introduced to this in an operating systems course. Later, I programmed a neural network in C with a brickOS LEGO platform as the target. It followed a line. It followed it well. Later, some embedded systems programming involving blinking lights and PID controllers. The best C project I've worked on had a Sony Clié as a target platform. It found a pink ball with its detached camera, then sent signals to servos through its serial port to control the camera position and limb positions of the humanoid robot it was strapped to the chest of.

quakehead

2002–

Found K&R on my bookshelf and started reading.

SeanOC

2002–2003

gregmuellegger

2002–

collypops

2003–

My first 'grown up' language. It's always creeped back into my life over the years, most recently as the language I used whilst learning OpenGL.

CerealBoy

2003–2007

Learned during Uni times. Was good!

CrociDB

2003–

This language is awesome!

bkokash

2003–2004

Built my first smart game using pure c

2003–

2003–2004

2003–

2003–

The pointers still get my nervs

2003–

2004–

2004–

2004–

2004–

C++'s older, non-malignant cousin. Still my go-to language for any application requiring excellent performance, multi-language ABI stability, or minimal dependencies. Writing C is a slow effort, but calming.

brosner

2004–

Learned C to write my senior project in high school. I implemented an interpreted language that was actually my gateway into Python (the next year). I enjoy messing with C from time to time.

gnubardt

2004–

A first-year programming course provided the motivation to properly learn how to abuse pointers. I was so enthralled, that the next summer I used C to scrape and parse a database of Canadian Postal Codes - not an exercise I would recommend repeating.

durden

2004–

madewulf

2005–

I kind of like it

nbprithv

2005–2008

College projects. great place to start for any budding programmer.

chrisbrett665

2005–

amackera

2005–

Wrote an RTOS in C. Fell in love.

bkopanja

2005–2006

d3f3nd3r

2005–

Da_Nuke

2005–

C is pretty much one of the "required" languages that all programmers and computer scientists in the world must be taught. And with good reason, it's low-level enough to let you learn about the computer's inner workings to some degree, while still being high-level enough to make it not as mind-warping as assembly.

myles

2005–2008

ranman

2005–

A beautiful language but still not as nice as LISP

brutasse

2006

Language for "Computer Programming 101" in my university. Made people flee away from CS.

gabrielrios

2006–

Used to teach programming at college, never really used it for anything serious but never discarted it either.

jamesotron

2006

She was always trying to take our relationship to 'the next level'. I guess I'm just a higher-level kind of guy.

timus

2006–

audreyr

2006–

rilt

2007–

Null pointer exceptions!

nullomodo

2007–

isardana

2007–

First learnt this at NIIT during the summer before starting university though ended up using a lot of non-standard practices. Gained heavily while beating competition and then when doing 3rd year coursework. Would've loved to do my 3rd year project in C, by far my favourite language to program in.

sdhamilton

2007–

University taught, manual memory management reminds me of days when men were men.

2007–

2007–

2007–

2007–

Not much has to be said about C itself. I got familiar with it during algorithm studying, and used it for some university projects.

NX172

2007–

wzzrd

2007–

Not very proficient :)

qwertymz

2008–2009

Used it for writing OpenGL projects; got me back into enjoying programming, and enjoying doing fun stuff with it.

mccolgan

2008–

only for data structures class

alex

2008–

GordyBrow

2008–

C's main use for me was when I was writing 3D graphics applications using OpenGL. I quite like the language, really good to see where all the C derivatives started off.

gniero

2008–

just for college

aaront

2008–

Classic.

2008–

2008–

2008–

2008–

2008–2010

Used in projects at Rice University starting with COMP 320

daniellindsley

2008–2009

threefjefff

2009–

First encountered it when on exchange in Sweden. There's a quote somewhere about going from C++ to C making as much sense as deciding you're gay and forcing your wife to change sexes. I agree.

barneyboo

2009

Segmentation fault.

devien

2009–

used when doing linux console stuff last year. due to competition with another (inferior) student for this and c++ ended up gaining quite a bit of understanding and ability in it.

jonnyboris

2009–

Part of my uni course, still use it to play with arduino.

dekz

2009–

University Semester 4 development

alexsuraci

2009–

Finally got around to diving in last year. Wish I used it more, frankly; I love simple languages. There's this itch I keep having for doing low-level programming and writing something large-scale in C, but I've never gotten around to scratching it.

MichaelTran

2009–

ssbr

2009–

nightfly19

2009–

Mostly experience with languages based on C, but some raw C experience as well. I practically count the CS 163 (Data Structures) course that I took as C experience, even though it was taught with C++, as we basically used it as "C with classes".

ShawnMilo

2009–

Started learing C in 2009 to see what all the fuss was about. Although I haven't done anything significant in it yet, I think I'm getting to the point in my higher-level languages where I might find it useful to add some modules in C for efficiency.

thaostra

2009–

Only started to learn this as I familiarized myself with Linux. Reading The C Programming Language by K&R also helped me become serious about learning it.

mrlemke

2009–

My favorite programming language. It doesn't hold my hand and is very unrestrictive. In the future, this will likely be tied with Common Lisp for my favorite programming language.

janewilson90

2010–

Had to learn at University. It makes me miss C++ (the evil hell language)

mantovani

2010–

skyl

2010–

Learned C in one night at PyCon in ATL and it changed my life.

filipe_mp

2010–

branesks

2010–