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C

Overview​

C is a small, fast systems language that shaped Unix and today’s operating systems, embedded firmware, and language runtimes. It offers manual memory management, a minimal type system, and direct hardware access, powerful but requiring discipline to avoid undefined behavior.

Key concepts​

  • Compilation model: Preprocess, compile, assemble, link.
  • Pointers & arrays: Address arithmetic; decay rules.
  • Stack vs heap: auto storage vs malloc/free.
  • Undefined behavior: Out-of-bounds access, invalid shifts, data races.
  • Standard library: stdio.h, stdlib.h, string.h, POSIX extensions.

Build pipeline​

Sample: hello + compile​

#include <stdio.h>

int main(void) {
  puts("hello, world");
  return 0;
}
cc -std=c17 -Wall -Wextra -O2 -o hello hello.c

References​