What's To Love About C?

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Posted by samzenpus on Monday July 2, 2012 @05:36AM from the favorite-tool-in-the-box dept.

First time accepted submitter edA-qa writes "Antiquated, clunky, and unsafe. Though beloved to some, C is a language that many choose to hate. The mass opinion is indeed so negative it's hard to believe that anybody would program anything in C. Yet they do. In fact a lot of things, even new things, are programmed in C. The standard was recently updated and the tools continue to evolve. While many are quick to dismiss the language it is in no danger of disappearing."

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because by Anonymous Coward · 2012-07-02 05:37 · Score: 4, Funny

char *post = "first";
1. Re:because by Anonymous Coward · 2012-07-02 05:44 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  Back to C++ Land with you, rascal!
2. Re:because by Dachannien · 2012-07-02 08:15 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  No, he's right. On systems where your constants exist in a different medium than your variables (such as microcontrollers where variables are in RAM but constants are in flash), declaring a string as const or not const can have a big impact on what resources you eat up. Typcially, there's often a #pragma or non-standard keyword such as ROM that goes along with this.
  And this is particularly relevant in this case, because Slashdot runs on CowboyNeal's microwave oven.
Sesame Street already covered this by Zephyn · 2012-07-02 05:45 · Score: 5, Funny

It's for cookie.
That's good enough for me.
Fortran is better. by Salis · 2012-07-02 06:05 · Score: 5, Funny

Go ahead. Argue. I dare you.
v same sig since 2002. v

--
Favorite /. tagline: "On the eighth day, God created FORTRAN." And it was good.
Re:news for n00bs by Vlad_the_Inhaler · 2012-07-02 06:05 · Score: 5, Funny

Move along, nothing left to C

--
Mielipiteet omiani - Opinions personal, facts suspect.
C - The language of Patriots by stox · 2012-07-02 06:11 · Score: 4, Funny

After all, in our National Anthem, we ask, "Jose, can you C?"

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"To those who are overly cautious, everything is impossible. "
1. Re:C - The language of Patriots by FrankDrebin · 2012-07-02 08:17 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  I guess that means we work at a higher-level here with "O Can ADA".
  
  --
  Anybody want a peanut?
Re:Maybe because it compiles down to the metal... by Penguinisto · 2012-07-02 06:22 · Score: 2, Funny

Even better - it allows you to actually make the results efficient. While most CS grads these days likely expect hardware tech to keep up with the bloat, there are a few folks out there who know what it's like to economize like hell when it comes to CPU or memory.
Also, when you're seriously pushing limits, it's the performance difference between a 1982 Chevy Nova with a busted head gasket (.NET, I'm looking at YOU), and compiling yourself a Porsche 911 with all the Autobahn goodies included.

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Quo usque tandem abutere, Nimbus, patientia nostra?
Re:because - by Mike+Buddha · 2012-07-02 06:43 · Score: 5, Funny

And the funny thing is that most people who write const char* foo really want char const * const foo. You don't want either the pointer or the data pointed at to change. However, almost nobody knows that, so even those who do just use the weaker const char* so people understand the code.
Hmm. I wonder why there's so much animosity towards C? It's a mystery.

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by Mike Buddha -- Someday the mountain might get him, but the law never will.
Re:Useless submission. by jd · 2012-07-02 07:02 · Score: 5, Funny

Curiosity is real. Unless declared integer.

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It's a small world and it smells funny; I'd buy another if it wasn't for the money; Take back what I paid (SoM)
Re:because - by Anonymous Coward · 2012-07-02 07:22 · Score: 2, Funny

The animosity comes from ignorance and lack of ability. In other words, the animosity comes from those who aren't qualified to judge.
Exactly. Unless you guys can make device drivers in Visual Basic like me, you're not qualified to put down the language.