Critiques on C Language

Two ideas are the most characteristic of C between the languages of its class: the relationship between arrays and pointers, and how the declaration syntax mimics the expression syntax. They are also among its most frequently criticized features, and often serve as stumbling blocks to beginners. In both cases, historical accidents or errors have exacerbated their difficulties. The most important of these was the tolerance of C compilers to type errors. As should be clear from the above history, C has evolved from a variety of languages. It did not suddenly appear to its early users and developers as a completely new language with its own rules; Instead, we had to continuously adapt the existing programs as the language was developed and make provision for an existing body of code. (Later, the ANSI X3J11 C standardization committee would have the same problem.) Compilers in 1977, and even after that, did not complain about ...