C Language Overview This chapter describes the basic details about C programming language, how it emerged, What are strengths of C and why we should use C. The C programming language is a general purpose, high level language that was originally developed by Dennis M. Ritchie to develop the UNIX operating system at Bell Labs. C was originally first implemented on the DEC PDP 11 computer in 1972. In 1978, Brian Kernighan and Dennis Ritchie produced the first publicly available description of C, now known as the K&R standard. The UNIX operating system, the C compiler, and essentially all UNIX applications programs have been written in C. The C has now become a widely used professional language for various reasons. Easy to learn Structured language It produces efficient programs. It can handle low level activities. It can be compiled on a variety of computer platforms. Facts about C C was invented to write an operating system called UNIX. C is a successor of B language, which was introduced around 1970. The language was formalized in 1988 by the American National Standard Institute.(ANSI). The UNIX OS was totally written in C by 1973