What is C? - Definition from Whatis.com

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C

C is a structured, procedural programming language that has been widely used both for operating systems and applications and that has had a wide following in the academic community. Many versions of UNIX-based operating systems are written in C. C has been standardized as part of the Portable Operating System Interface (POSIX).

With the increasing popularity of object-oriented programming, C is being rapidly replaced as "the" programming language by C++, a superset of the C language that uses an entirely different set of programming concepts, and by Java, a language similar to but simpler than C++, that was designed for use in distributed networks.

Related glossary terms: dynamic link library (DLL), HPFS (High Performance File System), Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT), ISA (Industry Standard Architecture), ASPI driver (Advanced SCSI Programming Interface driver), red screen of death, PXE (Preboot Execution Environment), Microsoft Office SharePoint Server (MOSS), MetaFrame, restore point

This was last updated in September 1998

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