C programming language

The C programming language is a standardized imperative computer programming language developed in the early 1970s by Ken Thompson and Dennis Ritchie for use on the UNIX operating system. It has since spread to many other operating systems, and is one of the most widely used programming languages. C is prized for its efficiency, and is the most popular programming language for writing system software, though it is also used for writing applications. It is also commonly used in computer science education, despite not being designed for novices.

Intermediate language

C is used as an intermediate language by some high-level languages (Eiffel, Esterel, Sather) which do not output object or machine code, but output C source code only, to submit to a C compiler, which then outputs finished object or machine code. This is done to gain portability and optimization. C compilers, often many, exist for most or all processors and operating systems, and most C compilers output well optimized object or machine code. Thus, any language that outputs C source code suddenly becomes very portable, and able to yield optimized object or machine code. Unfortunately, C is designed as a programming language, not as a compiler target language, so is not ideal for use as an intermediate language, leading to development of C-based intermediate languages, such as one C-- variant.

Related Topics:
Intermediate language - Eiffel - Esterel - Sather - Object - Machine - Optimization - C--

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