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C (programming language)

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Revision as of 20:36, 15 September 2022 by 2a01:261:501:be00:64b8:1cf8:ac67:2d3 (talk) (itself has very few keywords, and most things are done using libraries, which are collections of code made to be reused. C has a big standard library called stdio, which stands for standard input/output.)

C standards

There are three successive standards for the C programming language ANSI C, ISO C and Standard C which are published by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and the International Organization for Standardization (ISO).

C is available for many different types of computers. This is why C is called a "portable" language. A program that is written in C and that respects certain limitations can be compiled for most platforms, and all in mainstream use.

The syntax of C has also influenced many other programming languages, such as C++, C#, and Java, and many more programming languages we use nowadays.

Example code

Here is an example of a program written in C. When built and run it will show "Hello world!", followed by a new line on the computer screen. 

#include <stdio.h>

int main() {
    printf("Hello world!\n");
    return 0;
}
  • #include <stdio.h> gets the standard input/output tools ready for the program to use. This allows text to be displayed (output).
  • int main() is called the main function, and it is where the first code starts being run in a C program.
  • printf("Hello world!\n"); is what displays text, in this case "Hello world!" with a new line (\n) at the end.
  • return 0; tells the computer that the program finished and did not run into problems.

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