First C Program

Before starting the abcd of C language, you need to learn how to write, compile and run the first c program.

To write the first c program, open the C console and write the following code:

  1. #include <stdio.h>    
  2. int main(){    
  3. printf("Hello C Language");    
  4. return 0;   
  5. }  

#include <stdio.h> includes the standard input output library functions. The printf() function is defined in stdio.h .

int main() The main() function is the entry point of every program in c language.


printf() The printf() function is used to print data on the console.

return 0 The return 0 statement, returns execution status to the OS. The 0 value is used for successful execution and 1 for unsuccessful execution.


Features of C Language

C features

C is a widely used language. It provides many features that are given below.

  1. Simple
  2. Machine Independent or Portable
  3. Mid-level programming language
  4. structured programming language
  5. Rich Library
  6. Memory Management
  7. Fast Speed
  8. Pointers
  9. Recursion
  10. Extensible

1) Simple

C is a simple language in the sense that it provides a structured approach (to break the problem into parts), the rich set of library functions, data types, etc.

2) Machine Independent or Portable

Unlike assembly language, c programs can be executed on different machines with some machine specific changes. Therefore, C is a machine independent language.

3) Mid-level programming language

Although, C is intended to do low-level programming. It is used to develop system applications such as kernel, driver, etc. It also supports the features of a high-level language. That is why it is known as mid-level language.

4) Structured programming language

C is a structured programming language in the sense that we can break the program into parts using functions. So, it is easy to understand and modify. Functions also provide code reusability.

5) Rich Library

C provides a lot of inbuilt functions that make the development fast.

6) Memory Management

It supports the feature of dynamic memory allocation. In C language, we can free the allocated memory at any time by calling the free() function.

7) Speed

The compilation and execution time of C language is fast since there are lesser inbuilt functions and hence the lesser overhead.

8) Pointer

C provides the feature of pointers. We can directly interact with the memory by using the pointers. We can use pointers for memory, structures, functions, array, etc.

9) Recursion

In C, we can call the function within the function. It provides code reusability for every function. Recursion enables us to use the approach of backtracking.

10) Extensible

C language is extensible because it can easily adopt new features.