Chapter 9: Network Programming in the C Language | Network Programming for Microsoft Windows , Second Edition (Microsoft Programming Series)

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C Language Overview

In this chapter, we investigate network programming in the C language. The C language provided our base language from which we analyzed the Sockets API.

The C language is a general-purpose, imperative language that is commonly used in Unix systems and is the lingua franca of embedded software development.

Origin of the C Language

The C language was originally developed for the Unix operating system by Dennis Ritchie and Brian Kernighan as a systems programming language. Since its inception in the early 1970s, it has evolved to be one of the most popular computer languages of all time.

C Language Heritage

The C language was derived from another language called BCPL. BCPL was the “Basic Combined Programming Language.” BCPL, like C, was a block-structured, procedural language used for systems programming.

The C language is now defined as an ANSI standard under ISO/IEC 9899.

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