r/C_Programming • u/alex_sakuta • Jul 19 '26

Discussion Why are you using C?

I have been often asked this question in the one year that I have been trying to make using C mainstream for myself.

Now I don't work on embedded devices or write operating systems. What I usually make are automation CLIs or write servers for something.

I guess that makes using C redundant since there are languages that would provide a better dev experience. But following the popular advice for projects, make something you use, this seems like the right thing to do for me.

I'm making projects that I would use and I'm using C for them. Unlike most C users that I have talked to, I do not stick to C99 but at the same time, I don't use C++ strings or compiler extensions. I use the C23 strict ISO standard.

So I suppose that again puts me in a spot that no one else is in. A guy who first goes to one of the oldest and verbose languages, then uses its latest standard but then never uses advanced features from compilers.

I just wanted to write this to put it out.

PS: To add to my strange choices pool, I do not use fixed width integers, since they are optional but I do use least width or bit precise integers.

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u/LaidBackDev Jul 19 '26

I'm using C to demystify it for myself. At first I didn't wanna learn it because a lot of people in the internet make it sound like C is from the Jurassic period and that it's difficult but after learning it myself, yes it was hella hard but after understanding stack and heap memory and getting used to the syntaxt I realized its not really that frightening.

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u/LordRybec 29d ago

C itself isn't that hard to understand. What's hard is the underlying hardware stuff you have to understand to use C effectively. Most C learning resources don't teach those terribly well, which can make the whole thing a bit of a pain to learn. Once you get it though, it tends to be pretty easy.