C_01 Introduction to C Language | C Programming Tutorials

Programming is essential for solving problems, automating tasks, and creating software that interacts with hardware. Writing programs allows us to instruct computers to perform specific operations efficiently. Understanding the need for programming helps in grasping its significance in technology-driven solutions.

Computers are general-purpose machines capable of performing computational tasks, but they cannot understand human language directly. To communicate with a computer and instruct it to perform specific operations like adding numbers, users must write programs—a sequence of instructions the machine can execute. Since computers only comprehend binary code (0s and 1s), programming bridges the gap by translating user commands into a format that computers can process.

Computers rely entirely on programs to function, as they cannot perform any tasks without them. When you purchase a new computer, it comes preloaded with system and application software. System programs manage hardware and resources, while application software enables users to complete specific tasks like browsing the web or editing text documents. Examples include web browsers for internet access and MS Office for document creation.

Computers understand only binary code, a sequence of 0s and 1s. To communicate with computers effectively, humans use programming languages as intermediaries. These languages have their own character sets, keywords, syntax rules, and structures that must be learned before writing programs. Just like learning human language involves understanding alphabets and grammar to form sentences for communication, programming requires mastering these elements to create instructions the computer can interpret.

Programs written in high-level languages like C must be converted into machine language (binary code) for execution. This conversion allows the computer's central processing unit (CPU), often referred to as the heart of a computer, to perform calculations and computations. The CPU processes tasks defined by programs and provides output based on these instructions.

The Evolution from Machine to High-Level Languages Machine-level languages, being machine-dependent and difficult for humans to understand, required programmers to write instructions in binary form specific to CPU architecture. This lack of portability meant programs had to be rewritten for different machines. Assembly language emerged as a step forward but still lacked ease of use and flexibility. The advent of high-level languages like C introduced human-readable syntax and the ability for code portability across systems with minimal modifications.

C Language: Origins, Purpose, and Impact Developed by Dennis Ritchie at Bell Labs in 1972 as a successor to B language created by Ken Thompson, C was designed primarily for system programming such as writing Unix operating system kernels. Its power surpassed its predecessor's limitations while enabling efficient development processes. Widely adopted during the 1980s due its versatility; it became foundational in creating software like Oracle databases, Android core libraries, web browsers' major components device drivers & Unix OS itself cementing legacy among most popular programming tools ever conceived

C is a programming language standardized by ANSI in 1989, hence referred to as ANSI C. It requires conversion from high-level code into machine-readable zeros and ones through a compiler, making it a compiled language. The written program (e.g., abc.c) is transformed into an object file or machine code before being executed by the CPU. Additional processes like linking, loading, creating executable files, and their roles will be discussed separately.