What Is C?

C is a small, statically-typed language that compiles directly to native machine code — there is no virtual machine and no garbage collector standing between your code and the hardware.

#include <stdio.h>

int main(void) {
    printf("Hello, world!\n");
    return 0;
}

That directness is exactly why C has stayed central for decades: Linux, Windows, and macOS all have C at their core, and most other languages' runtimes (Python's own interpreter, for example) are themselves written in C. Nothing is hidden from you — including memory management, which this course spends real time on.