C was created to develop system software efficiently and portably, especially the UNIX operating system.
Before C, UNIX was written in assembly language, which was:
Dennis Ritchie developed C in 1972 at Bell Laboratories to solve these problems. The main reasons for creating C were:
PortabilityC allowed UNIX to be rewritten in a high-level language, making it easier to move the operating system to different hardware platforms.
Efficiency close to hardwareC provides low-level features like pointers and direct memory access, giving performance similar to assembly language.
Ease of system programmingIt simplified writing operating systems, compilers, and device drivers compared to assembly.
Structured programming supportC introduced functions, loops, and conditionals, improving code readability and maintenance.
Reusability and maintainabilityPrograms written in C are easier to modify, debug, and reuse than assembly code.