Is the C programming language still worth learning?

C is used to create all those other programming languages in any regard

C has its uses. It's a great beginner language if you want to understand what software is doing on a lower level.

C still relevant as long as my Linux kernel stills using it.

Learn c++

I hope the doubters are able to C the light...

Always start with C and then move on to something else. I genuinely think the extra time invested is worth it.

This is not so much a feature of C, but many other languages borrow a lot of syntax and concepts from C. Because C is a relatively simple language to learn, it makes learning other languages easier. Once you have the foundation of C, learning C++ or Java is just a matter of adding language features (with some small changes in syntax).

I realize that Python's syntax is very different, but it borrows a lot of concepts from C and other languages. Once you have learned a few languages, adding others becomes easier, even if their syntax is very different from others that you know, because the cognitive load of learning the concepts is lower.

yes, enough said. !!!!

Lol,. If we don't use C, you don't even have the PC or laptop to watch this video. Ask Electrical and electronics engineer, they use C a lot..

Is the language that literally powers up the whole electronic and informatic infrastructure of the world worth learning?

Is the language that can code anything, from electric toothbrushes and lawnmowers up to military drones and satellites worth learning?

Is the lingua franca of programming worth learning?

Asking this is the same as asking if one should learn Mozart and Bach in a piano channel.

It's just a stupid question.

C for life

Le tengo cariño a C, fue unos de mis primeros lenguajes de programación. Saludos.

It is less a comment about C itself, more a heuristic observation that I made amongst my colleague-programmers.
I work as a programmer (using C amongst others) since nearly 40 years now. If I browse through the abilities
of younger colleagues (those who remained with us for longer, as well as those who left us earlier), I find, that
all those who used C (just C, not C++) for a while, tend to be the better developers (regardless of the language
the actual project requires from them now). So, without being able to point to something special in the C language,
it seems to have sort-of an educational effect if you dedicated some time to it.

C makes you think.

I'm 56 years old and I'm learning C because I enjoy it. I will never be able to work as a programmer because I'm far too old for that and I don't have the necessary knowledge.

c/c++ it's with assembler the only way to communicate human like with the mashine. All other kind's need the results from this elementar programms. Like Java and html , last one can display all ideas of Userinterfaces. No one must anymore programming anything , is already exist . Use html java php ajax and so on. To learn programming in c/c++ u need 40years of time or let it out.

I write JS when I want things done quick .
I write C when I want things done right .

As an old-timer, I say C forever! Now get off my lawn!

Simply put, it’s the heart of embedded software engineering. If you don’t understand the importance of embedded systems then you have much more to worry about than if C language is still relevant

I'm just a student that's getting into programming. I started with Python but now I'm picking up C, and it's more to type but fun nevertheless.

You know what, C will never die; it will always be there as a level up from assembler, and all other higher level languages will need to access the C ABI forever. If you are programming on metal, you cannot have the luxus of such as safety paranoia. This is a matter of levels. Strata design is all about software design. You need first choose the level you want to add value and choose an appropriate language for this level. Best language for close to metal programming is C.

Id recommend not learning anything at all, unless you really need to.

C/C++ is the past ,RUST is the future
In the future, C/C+ won"t be taught anymore, and they will become a kind of assembly language that hardly anyone uses anymore (bye bye memory links). Is it really useful for a beginner to learn these languages that are becoming obsolete?"

Yes. Not a complicated question if you actually take 5 seconds to think about what software engineering actually means. IMO.

Great vid. You ahould check out an article by ActiveState that shows how to inline assembly in Python code on a Linux system equipped with NASM.

Learning Rust is on my to-do list and what I've seen so far is really intriguing. However, the runtime bloat is a slight turn-off.

C is my favorite language but it's two biggest shortcomings are 1) lack of namespaces and 2) weak-sauce const modifier.

Actually, my understanding is that a lot of the numerical libraries like BLAS and LAPACK are actually written in FORTRAN (!!)
That goes to your point that people generally don't rewrite code that is proven

That fast linear algebra code is probably written in fortran, though... (Which is also in itself an argument in this "c is old..." discussion)

C is like a stick shift, when you’re going sideways in the snow, you appreciate simplicity (no 163737 versions of c++) and third pedal (completely unguarded pointers) !

the less people learn C the more I get paid :) and I’m paid waaaayyyy to much already 😂

C is good for you.

There is a more significant factor I see seasoned engineers bring up more often than any of these: C is unsafe, insofar as when you have a language that allows you to make mistakes, mistakes will inevitably happen. I like C a lot, but the more I consider real-world consequences where bugs hidden for years eventually become active bugs or exploits and end up costing huge sums of money (or worse, lives in the case of medical equipment), I find myself thinking there's not a good reason to not move over to something with borrow-checking or similar in many applications.

I think C should be everyone's first language.

C is for people who don't need the compiler to remind them what type they're passing.

Computers are becoming more and more powerful and can be used to do more and more complex things. This means that the software is also becoming more complex. C can no longer keep up and it takes an enormous amount of detailed work to write extensive software with it. Languages like C++ and Rust make work enormously easier.

thanks the best Jacob

hmm, what happens when there's no C programmers left to support the entire infrastructure of computers, networks, and every microprocessor made, all running the world? glad i won't be around by then, (yes, i will be one of those dead C programmers, laughing six feet under)

I started learning programming with C and stuck with it a while, but eventually moved on to other languages. I've found that most often developer productivity trumps raw speed, because I don't often need to solve C problems. However, the "mechanical sympathy" that learning and using C gave me has still proved really valuable in other problem domains. I'm happy I learned it, but I don't see much of a need to use it full time.

isnt C and its variants used in microcontrollers? Its a completley different type of language then Python for example; its faster and works at a lower hardware level

When I see people using a Raspberry Pi, an operating system and Python to flash a couple of LEDs, I could weep. Sure, as soon as you need complex interfaces, BlueTooth etc, it's different. However, if you don't know 'C' (or assembler) how are you going to program an 8 pin Microcontroller? Unless you can get down and dirty with the hardware, you'll never grasp how these things work.
I've written an entire CNC controller in Assembler, before 'C' compilers were efficient enough to get the necessary performance from 8MHz hardware. (Yes, I'm very old) Understanding programming at the lowest levels really helps when you move to ever higher level languages.

Just regular C is, as you mentioned, still common in ROM/flash based (very little RAM) embedded systems, C++ or anything higher really doesn’t work well on limited resource processors. I work in the embedded world and I write everything in either C or assembly language. I prefer writing in assembly over C, but C does allow me to move the code from one processor to the next with much less work. That being said, I can write a function in assembly language faster than I can do it in C.

When I was beginning learning C in 2000, I was asking myself the very same question.
C is for computer programming what Latin is for the Holy Catholic Church.

Is C still worth learning? Definitely yes!
Its relatively small size is a real positive factor.
I tried C++ a few years ago but eventually drifted away from it. It's just so huge now, and pieces have been tacked onto it here and there so that now it's just an unsightly mess.
Its age is a positive too. Old things can still be good. Old often means tried-and-proven.

I'll claim to be a C programmer, it was mostly C++ but only really using the C features (plus a few minor niceties like vectors and function overloading)! I think I can say the real thing that stops me from using C is that I primarily do mathematical modelling of diseases and populations, and it's mostly numerical work in large multidimensional arrays with lots of sampling from random distributions. And honestly C just makes that more difficult to do than things like Julia, Matlab, or R (comparing pulling in the GSL with having the statistics ready and freely explorable), particularly when the logic gets extremely complex like in some of the genetic models I've worked on.

Plus I much prefer working in a REPL, exploring data while I work with it, and C doesn't really make that feasible. I'm glad I learned C, but I'm unlikely to start any future projects in it. And I wouldn't know where to start with trying to replicate ggplot!

Just use C++ compiler in C style coding.