Some were meant for C: the endurance of an unmanageable language

Abstract

The C language leads a double life: as an application programming language of yesteryear, perpetuated by circumstance; and as a systems programming language which remains a weapon of choice decades after its creation. This essay is a C programmer's reaction to the call to abandon ship. It questions several aspects commonly held to define the experience of using C; these include unsafety, undefined behaviour, and the motivation of performance. It argues all these are in fact inessential; rather, it traces C's ultimate strength to a communicative design which cannot be understood within the usual conception of "a programming language", but can be seen as the antithesis of so-called "managed" languages. This communicativity is understood as facilitating the essential aspect of system-building: creating parts which interact with other remote parts---being "alongside" not "within", and of "alien" origin.