Poll

How long have you been writing C?

More than 40 years
9 (14.3%)
More than 30 years
19 (30.2%)
More than 20 years
15 (23.8%)
More than 10 years
13 (20.6%)
More than 5 years
5 (7.9%)
Less than 5 years
2 (3.2%)
I have never programmed in C
0 (0%)
Don't know / no answer
0 (0%)

Total Members Voted: 63

Author Topic: C language 50th anniversary  (Read 8273 times)

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Offline Tomorokoshi

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Re: C language 50th anniversary
« Reply #25 on: July 22, 2022, 09:59:44 pm »
I tried C on my firs Amiga with a 68000 processor, 2.5mb ram and a super slow HD.
No way, too long to compile. (1989ish)

I tried again when I got my 25MHz 68030 Amiga 3000 with 10mb ram and a top performance 7200 RPM SCSI HD. (1993ish)
Ok, now I was hooked as compiling time was actually good.
Though a lot of code was copy & paste modified examples from existing source code with my algorithms in-between.

I didn't delve deeper into a modern C compiler until I had access to a C compiler for Microchip MCUs and had to do a DSPIC project for my exercise bike controller.  Then it was more fun as compile times were only around 2 seconds.

Yes, I had have Lattice C on the Amiga 3000.
 

Offline SiliconWizard

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Re: C language 50th anniversary
« Reply #26 on: July 22, 2022, 10:12:11 pm »
That's funny. I had a Mac Plus at some point with 2.5MB RAM and Think C, and it was perfectly usable.
 

Offline DiTBho

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Re: C language 50th anniversary
« Reply #27 on: July 22, 2022, 10:54:22 pm »
From my university experiences, I remember that gcc-v2.95 was decently usable on an HP 712 @ 100Mhz with 192 MBytes of ram and HPUX v10.20  :-//
The opposite of courage is not cowardice, it is conformity. Even a dead fish can go with the flow
 

Offline DiTBho

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Re: C language 50th anniversary
« Reply #28 on: July 22, 2022, 11:07:30 pm »
what good memories ... when C was "the other language", one step over from Basic, times when X11 didn't even start, rebuilding the kernel (2.0..2.2) took two days, and getting X11 decently working took up to two months on a i486 with a bloody ET4000 ...

And people felt lucky when they managed to successfully install gcc-v2.95, learn enough about C to hack and compile nedit to run it on Xmotif  :o :o :o
The opposite of courage is not cowardice, it is conformity. Even a dead fish can go with the flow
 

Offline Sal Ammoniac

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Re: C language 50th anniversary
« Reply #29 on: July 22, 2022, 11:14:02 pm »
My copy of the first edition of The C Programming Language is signed by DMR.
"That's not even wrong" -- Wolfgang Pauli
 
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Offline SiliconWizard

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Re: C language 50th anniversary
« Reply #30 on: July 22, 2022, 11:14:19 pm »
From my university experiences, I remember that gcc-v2.95 was decently usable on an HP 712 @ 100Mhz with 192 MBytes of ram and HPUX v10.20  :-//

Oh yeah, GCC was a dog.
Think C was pretty fast considering the kind of platforms it ran on.
 
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Online langwadt

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Re: C language 50th anniversary
« Reply #31 on: July 22, 2022, 11:25:46 pm »
I will have to dig out my original book, The C Programming language by Brian W. Kernighan & Dennis M. Ritchie and read it all again. True heroes the modern world. Salute!

I have two, the one I bought at uni and the one my dad used at some point. I wonder if there is a way to tell when it was printed
 

Offline Ed.Kloonk

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Re: C language 50th anniversary
« Reply #32 on: July 23, 2022, 03:32:14 am »
I will have to dig out my original book, The C Programming language by Brian W. Kernighan & Dennis M. Ritchie and read it all again. True heroes the modern world. Salute!

I have two, the one I bought at uni and the one my dad used at some point. I wonder if there is a way to tell when it was printed

The wiki says

Quote
Publication date

1978 (1st Edition)
1988 (2nd Edition)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_C_Programming_Language
iratus parum formica
 

Offline Karel

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Re: C language 50th anniversary
« Reply #33 on: July 23, 2022, 06:22:10 am »
Many times people are astonished when they see how fast my programs are.
It seems that today a lot of people use more "modern" languages which seem to be very slow,
specially in performance critical situations. Or they simply have no clue about how to write efficient software.

Somebody once wrote:

Unfortunately, after 30 years professional in software, I find the main problem is that "a bad programmer can write
bad code in any language", to paraphrase the famous saying. And most programmers are pretty bad.

Good programmers avoid unsafe practices anyway, so new and better languages don't provide the advantage that is hoped.

 
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Offline Ian.M

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Re: C language 50th anniversary
« Reply #34 on: July 23, 2022, 06:50:32 am »
Back in 1984, I got my first copy of K&R as the manual for Hisoft C for the ZX Spectrum mostly consisted of its divergencies from K&R, so was useless without the book!   

In 1986 I got the Metacomco QL C development kit, which had a Lattice C based compiler (and a ROM 'dongle') and since then I don't think I've ever had a system I haven't been able to compile C code for, apart from some tinkerings with low end 8 bit MCUs in the days before Hi-Tech C.  Heck, I've even got the Tiny C compiler installed on my Kindle!
 

Offline VK3DRB

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Re: C language 50th anniversary
« Reply #35 on: July 23, 2022, 07:14:25 am »
I like C. I am programming a micro-controller in C right now in fact. Been programming in C for just over 30 years.

Before that, Pascal. Before that, BASIC, and a few odd-ball languages at various times... C++, C#, Assembly Language, APL, Fortran, Clipper (dBaseIII. Remember Clipper from Nantucket?). And even direct machine code which isn't really a language.

Hmm BASIC... Beginners All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code. It has nothing to do with beginners. It is useless for embedded or any serious programming. But I have a soft spot for it. The old line-numbered BASIC was my first language. I programmed in BASIC on the Cyber-72 mainframe at RMIT as an engineering student from 1977 and loved it. That machine was way ahead of its time. BASIC and FORTRAN were part of KRONOS, the O/S for the Cyber-72. First year, we used punched cards on the IBM 029 card punches (don't drop the deck!). Then we used upgraded to VDUs... a revolutionary improvement. If you don't know what a VDU is, you are clearly a newbie ;D.

I found the manual here, in case others are as nostalgic or have an interest...
http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/cdc/cyber/cyber_70/kronos/60407600B_KRONOS2.1ug_May74.pdf
« Last Edit: July 23, 2022, 07:16:12 am by VK3DRB »
 

Offline BrianHG

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Re: C language 50th anniversary
« Reply #36 on: July 23, 2022, 07:47:47 am »
I tried C on my firs Amiga with a 68000 processor, 2.5mb ram and a super slow HD.
No way, too long to compile. (1989ish)

I tried again when I got my 25MHz 68030 Amiga 3000 with 10mb ram and a top performance 7200 RPM SCSI HD. (1993ish)
Ok, now I was hooked as compiling time was actually good.
Though a lot of code was copy & paste modified examples from existing source code with my algorithms in-between.

I didn't delve deeper into a modern C compiler until I had access to a C compiler for Microchip MCUs and had to do a DSPIC project for my exercise bike controller.  Then it was more fun as compile times were only around 2 seconds.

Yes, I had have Lattice C on the Amiga 3000.
I currently have SAS/C version 6.3, still alive and kicking...
I think I had Lattice on my A1000, however, I no longer have that computer.

Hmmm, I just tried a compile and it took 15 seconds on my A3000.

Hmmm, I just tried the same compile on a JIT WinUAE emulated A3000.
Half a second to compile the same project.
 

Offline Kjelt

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Re: C language 50th anniversary
« Reply #37 on: July 23, 2022, 07:59:50 am »
Congratulations C you deserved it.

End 90s when I was graduating I was only taught C++. Teachers stated C was "the past" and OO was the future.

Then the next 24 years working for 6 companies as embedded SWdev, from devices with 16kB OTPROM and 2kB RAM upto now machines with over 500MB program data and a GB of RAM except for two couple of months projects, I never ever did anything but C.
C all the way! And nowadays companies have problems finding good C developers, hiring persons from other continents where they still are taught C. Funny world.
 

Offline nfmax

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Re: C language 50th anniversary
« Reply #38 on: July 23, 2022, 08:56:47 am »
C is L!

I started using EcoC on CP/M, before moving to Whitesmiths C cross compiler, running on Unix but targeting the Z80. I guess this would be about 1984 or so

People should remember that C/Unix was the very first time a whole operating system had been developed in anything other than assembler. Don’t knock K&R for not getting everything absolutely perfect!
 

Offline DiTBho

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Re: C language 50th anniversary
« Reply #39 on: July 23, 2022, 09:28:35 am »
Oh yeah, GCC was a dog.
Think C was pretty fast considering the kind of platforms it ran on.

NextStep/Objective-C - vs - HPUX/GNU Gcc v2.95: the crazy thing is that Objective-C ran twice as fast on the same hardware(1) with NextSTEP v3.3/HPPA1  :o :o :o


(1) HP712 workstation, cpu PA-7100LC@100 MHz with 1 KB on-chip L1 and 256 KB off-chip L1 cache, 192Mbyte of ram, 9GB narrow SCSI 10K rpm
The opposite of courage is not cowardice, it is conformity. Even a dead fish can go with the flow
 

Offline DiTBho

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Re: C language 50th anniversary
« Reply #40 on: July 23, 2022, 09:35:39 am »
I mean, the *compiler* used on NextSTEP computers was obtained from GNU CC, modified and extended as a compiler for the Objective C language by NeXT Computer, Inc. for use on NextSTEP computers.

And they made it 2x-faster than Gcc on HPUX, that's impressing  :o :o :o
The opposite of courage is not cowardice, it is conformity. Even a dead fish can go with the flow
 

Online jfiresto

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Re: C language 50th anniversary
« Reply #41 on: July 23, 2022, 09:43:17 am »
I started in 1983 with DECUS C, which was written in and generated PDP-11 assembler. It was my introduction in how to trick a compiler to do your bidding, and not excite compiler bugs. :) Although C compilers have improved a lot over the years, I can think of many less pleasant things to do than study PDP-11 assembler.
« Last Edit: July 23, 2022, 09:51:50 am by jfiresto »
-John
 

Offline Tomorokoshi

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Re: C language 50th anniversary
« Reply #42 on: July 23, 2022, 11:51:32 am »
I tried C on my firs Amiga with a 68000 processor, 2.5mb ram and a super slow HD.
No way, too long to compile. (1989ish)

I tried again when I got my 25MHz 68030 Amiga 3000 with 10mb ram and a top performance 7200 RPM SCSI HD. (1993ish)
Ok, now I was hooked as compiling time was actually good.
Though a lot of code was copy & paste modified examples from existing source code with my algorithms in-between.

I didn't delve deeper into a modern C compiler until I had access to a C compiler for Microchip MCUs and had to do a DSPIC project for my exercise bike controller.  Then it was more fun as compile times were only around 2 seconds.

Yes, I had have Lattice C on the Amiga 3000.
I currently have SAS/C version 6.3, still alive and kicking...
I think I had Lattice on my A1000, however, I no longer have that computer.

Hmmm, I just tried a compile and it took 15 seconds on my A3000.

Hmmm, I just tried the same compile on a JIT WinUAE emulated A3000.
Half a second to compile the same project.

That's right! It was updated from Lattice to SAS!

The machine is currently disassembled. The battery leaked, and I need to repair the damage.
 

Online langwadt

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Re: C language 50th anniversary
« Reply #43 on: July 23, 2022, 02:11:27 pm »
I will have to dig out my original book, The C Programming language by Brian W. Kernighan & Dennis M. Ritchie and read it all again. True heroes the modern world. Salute!

I have two, the one I bought at uni and the one my dad used at some point. I wonder if there is a way to tell when it was printed

The wiki says

Quote
Publication date

1978 (1st Edition)
1988 (2nd Edition)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_C_Programming_Language

that's the publishing date, they didn't print all of them at once 

 

Offline BrianHG

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Re: C language 50th anniversary
« Reply #44 on: July 23, 2022, 08:12:47 pm »
That's funny. I had a Mac Plus at some point with 2.5MB RAM and Think C, and it was perfectly usable.
What was the build time of a complete project with a full GUI libraries in the source code?
 

Offline BrianHG

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Re: C language 50th anniversary
« Reply #45 on: July 23, 2022, 08:15:48 pm »
People should remember that C/Unix was the very first time a whole operating system had been developed in anything other than assembler. Don’t knock K&R for not getting everything absolutely perfect!
I'm curious, do you have a date for this first release?
 

Offline PaulAm

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Re: C language 50th anniversary
« Reply #46 on: July 23, 2022, 11:11:12 pm »
Quote
People should remember that C/Unix was the very first time a whole operating system had been developed in anything other than assembler. Don’t knock K&R for not getting everything absolutely perfect!


Well, no.  That would be Multics written in PL/1 out of MIT's Project MAC.  Ritchie was part of that project and when Bell Labs pulled out, Ritchie and Thompson redid the work (on a much smaller scale).  Unix, which ran on one processor was a pun on Multics which was a big multiprocessor system.  Unix was originally spelled Unics and C was preceded by B.

Multics became a commercial product and was sold by Honeywell on a 36bit architecture.  Some very dedicated peopled ended up writing an emulator for that architecture and were able to recover boot images.  You can now run Multics on a Rasberry PI; a $40 credit card has more MIPS than a multimillion dollar room full of Honeywell hardware.  Runs faster too.

 

Offline PlainName

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Re: C language 50th anniversary
« Reply #47 on: July 24, 2022, 01:16:09 am »
I've never really minded a relatively long compile time (except when you get to something like the Linux kernel) - you expect something noticeable to happen when you hit the button. In fact, an apparently instant compile is really off-putting to me because I can't tell the difference between it working and nothing happening.

I suppose I should say something like needing to compile every minute just shows a lack of confidence in one's code-writing ability, but I'd better not.
 

Offline ebclr

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Re: C language 50th anniversary
« Reply #48 on: July 24, 2022, 06:30:12 am »
I Program in C and  many other languages, including several assemblers,  but  I really love pascal, in my point of  view is much more readable than C, But unfortunately, C won the programming language war, and pascal is used by very few people most from Europe.  :-//
 

Offline snarkysparky

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Re: C language 50th anniversary
« Reply #49 on: July 25, 2022, 06:56:24 pm »
if C had never been invented to this date someone would invent it now.  Look a dangerous but highly efficient language to do low level coding.  It will out  perform anything we have now.

Just learn how to use it !!!
 


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