[TUHS] History of popularity of C

A. P. Garcia a.phillip.garcia at gmail.com
Fri May 22 21:58:26 AEST 2020


On Fri, May 22, 2020, 5:52 AM Tyler Adams <coppero1237 at gmail.com> wrote:
<snip>

> So, now Im curious about embedded systems. In my limited experience, every
> "embedded system" I programmed for from 2002-2011 had C as its primary
> language. After 2011, I stopped programming embedded systems, so I don't
> know after that. Why was C so dominant in this space? Is it because adding
> a backend to gcc was free, C was already well known, and C was sufficiently
> performant?
>

I don't know how much gcc contributed to the success of C in the embedded
space. Microcontrollers are often programmed in assembly. They have memory
and speed constraints, much like the PDPs where C began. I think it goes
back to what Larry said about C being so close to the metal.

>
>
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