c

adj 1: of a temperature scale that registers the freezing point of

water as 0 degrees C and the boiling point as 100

degrees C under normal atmospheric pressure [syn: {celsius},

{centigrade}] [ant: {fahrenheit}]

2: being ten more than ninety [syn: {hundred}, {a hundred}, {one

hundred}, {100}]

n 1: a degree on the Centigrade scale of temperature [syn: {degree

Centigrade}, {degree Celsius}, {C}]

2: the speed at which light travels in a vacuum; 300,000 km per

second; a universal constant [syn: {speed of light}, {light

speed}]

3: an abundant nonmetallic tetravalent element occurring in

three allotropic forms: amorphous carbon and graphite and

diamond; occurs in all organic compounds [syn: {carbon}, {C},

{atomic number 6}]

4: ten 10s [syn: {hundred}, {100}, {C}, {century}, {one C}, {centred}]

5: a unit of electrical charge equal to the amount of charge

transferred by a current of 1 ampere in 1 second [syn: {coulomb},

{C}, {ampere-second}]

6: a general-purpose programing language closely associated

with the UNIX operating system [syn: {C}]

7: a narcotic (alkaloid) extracted from coca leaves; used as a

surface anesthetic or taken for pleasure; can become

addictive [syn: {cocaine}, {cocain}, {coke}, {snow}, {C}]

C

A programming language designed by {Dennis Ritchie}

at {AT&T} {Bell Labs} ca. 1972 for systems programming on the

{PDP-11} and immediately used to reimplement {Unix}.

It was called "C" because many features derived from an

earlier compiler named "{B}". In fact, C was briefly named

"NB". B was itself strongly influenced by {BCPL}. Before

{Bjarne Stroustrup} settled the question by designing {C::},

there was a humorous debate over whether C's successor should

be named "D" or "P" (following B and C in "BCPL").

C is terse, low-level and permissive. It has a {macro

preprocessor}, {cpp}.

Partly due to its distribution with {Unix}, C became immensely

popular outside {Bell Labs} after about 1980 and is now the

dominant language in systems and {microcomputer} applications

programming. It has grown popular due to its simplicity,

efficiency, and flexibility. C programs are often easily

adapted to new environments.

C is often described, with a mixture of fondness and disdain,

as "a language that combines all the elegance and power of

{assembly language} with all the readability and

maintainability of assembly language".

Ritchie's original C, known as {K&R C} after Kernighan and

Ritchie's book, has been {standard}ised (and simultaneously

modified) as {ANSI C}.

See also {ACCU}, {ae}, {c68}, {c386}, {C-Interp}, {cxref},

{dbx}, {dsp56k-gcc}, {dsp56165-gcc}, {gc}, {GCT}, {GNU C},

{GNU superoptimiser}, {Harvest C}, {malloc}, {mpl},

{Pthreads}, {ups}.

[{Jargon File}]

(1996-06-01)