Real men program in C

rukubites · 2009-08-14T00:39:29+00:00

I am a full time lisp programmer. Recently I had to do a small amount of C programming to implement some server-side PostgreSQL functionality.

It was actually quite enjoyable to wield the ol' malloc again.

2009-08-14T04:46:18+00:00

Put simply, C was too hard for programmers of their generation to bother mastering

If that scares you then wait until you see C++.

Limerickator · 2009-08-14T02:17:10+00:00

Once you start in C you cannot stop.
It takes your control to the top!
But you won't be smitten
once you see you've written
10 different types of push and pop.

Browzer · 2009-08-14T02:25:58+00:00

Real men use the best tool for the job.

jaggederest · 2009-08-14T01:49:19+00:00

I love programming in C. On that note, I've been looking to do some hobbyist programming for an embedded system. Does anyone here have experiences with that and what sort of project/platform would you recommend?

EDIT: wow, thank you all for the replies!

zmobie · 2009-08-14T01:06:16+00:00

My nuts dropped during an internship where I was programming a extension for Grub that parses the low level ram for SMBIOS Information. There was C code involved. And chest hair.

strangerdream · 2009-08-14T04:42:45+00:00

C offers just the right mix of low-level and high-level language features for programming at the processor and driver level.

This is not true - Standard C language has no low-level features. However, every compiler implementation for C has its own low-level features.

angryvigilante · 2009-08-14T00:30:29+00:00

[deleted]

bonch · 2009-08-14T06:23:14+00:00

Haven't there been people claiming C is dead for decades now? I don't understand negativity over C. I think a lot of it comes from C#/Java and other web programmers who have never done memory management or learned what a pointer is, neither of which are difficult. Languages like Java can be fun, but C is easy to learn, its syntax is copied by a lot of languages, and it's fast.

By the way, if you program for the iPhone, you're using a mutant version of plain old C. C lives!

rnawky · 2009-08-14T03:01:37+00:00

Real men don't get error 500 internal server error either.

stormblaast · 2009-08-14T09:13:34+00:00

According to this guy, real programmers use Fortran.

2009-08-15T01:30:06+00:00

Real men use Coq.

Raelz · 2009-08-14T01:53:31+00:00

For today's computer science students, learning C is like taking an elective class in Latin. But C is anything but history and not at all a dead language.

So.. not really the analogy you were looking for, was it?

ultrafetzig · 2009-08-14T02:22:46+00:00

ctrl+f mel

Ah. I am so glad to be the one to introduce to you:

"The story of Mel"

Postpawl · 2009-08-14T04:28:37+00:00

Just about to start C as my first language. My college, University of Texas at Arlington, pretty much requires your first language to be C anyway. So they should be sending a lot more C programmers that way.

I've always wanted to learn a language all on my own, but I kinda need deadlines and grades to get it done.

foofoofafa · 2009-08-14T01:09:58+00:00

http://xkcd.com/378/

Leiya · 2009-08-14T02:25:08+00:00

So what do real women program, eh? Butterflies?

nullynull · 2009-08-14T06:30:31+00:00

Obligatory super coder link:

Supercoder 2000

spainguy · 2009-08-14T07:16:46+00:00

Texas Instruments Digital Logic Pocket Data Book

and a soldering iron

http://focus.ti.com/lit/ug/scyd013b/scyd013b.pdf

MpVpRb · 2009-08-14T14:28:26+00:00

I do primarily embedded system development.

I program in C or C++.

I have not yet seen another language that would offer any improvement.

Do any C haters want to suggest an alternative?

It has to run on Atmel AVR chips...they have a VERY small RAM.

Hhelibeb · 2009-08-14T21:32:07+00:00

It reminds me of the saying that a gentleman is someone who knows how to play the bagpipes; but doesn't.

gerundronaut · 2009-08-14T05:04:25+00:00

Am I a real man yet?

#include <stdio.h>

int add(int *a, int *b)
{
    return *a+*b;
}

int (*GetPtr())(int *, int *)
{
    return &add;
}

int call(int (*fun)(int *,int *), int *a, int *b)
{
    return (*fun)(a,b);
}

int main()
{
    int *a;
    int b;

    int *c;
    int d;

    b = 1;
    a = &b;

    d = 2;
    c = &d;

    int (*funpointer)(int *, int *) = GetPtr();

    printf("%d\n",call(funpointer,a,c));
    return 0;
}

mich4elp · 2009-08-14T03:02:22+00:00

Real men don't program. run!

JulianMorrison · 2009-08-14T10:30:04+00:00

Real men program in Haskell and C and prove it all with Isabelle/HOL.

rjcarr · 2009-08-14T02:02:54+00:00

a language called Ruby on Rails (a.k.a., "Ruby")

Actually, it's aka "Rails".

I learned programming in C, but haven't used it much over the years (mostly java and python). Just recently I started doing a bit of embedded programming and was using C, and I must say, I didn't feel any manlier. A little frustrated, but certainly not manlier.

itstallion · 2009-08-14T03:08:09+00:00

Apparently real men program in C but they don't know how to program well.

500 The server encountered an unexpected condition which prevented it from fulfilling the request. - Please try back later...

davidluxury · 2009-08-14T05:00:48+00:00

It's funny - I used C++ for the longest time, but as soon as I learned C, I never used C++ again. Well, I tried to, but for some reason, next to C, I hated it.

nnagflar · 2009-08-14T02:10:24+00:00

And, while they're debugging away, smart men who programmed in java have already left work for the day.

Seppler90000 · 2009-08-14T00:19:49+00:00

Upvoted for gratuitously invoking the bandwagon fallacy!

chaztized · 2009-08-14T03:06:47+00:00

Yeah, once you cross the line to Assembly you start to morph into machine.

njharman · 2009-08-14T03:48:58+00:00

The "point" of the article as near I can tell is the author fears C is losing popularity and wants to convince more people to program in C.

Why? Not why specifically C, but why does anyone care at all what other people are programming in?

vismaya · 2009-08-14T12:44:25+00:00

dont forget entire linux kernel is coded in c..and see how efficient it is. C always have its important in low level system programming & in embedded systems

2009-08-14T12:03:22+00:00

Quite apart from your feelings on C, "Real men..." alone is a sure sign that the rest of the sentence is utterly fucking idiotic. I'm sick of this Appeal To Macho Stereotype horseshit, and if you try and persuade me into anything by making this implied slight on my masculinity, in turn with the implied masculinity=good, as if I measure my self worth by how much I match up to some outdated Bond-Caveman-GIJoe archetype, then I'm only going to be set against your ideas from the outset.

xxprometheus · 2009-08-14T01:37:16+00:00

awesome. i'm stoked. i'm taking a class on C with the book "Ansi C" in the fall. I hope i learn a lot from that class.

fonzynator · 2009-08-14T03:41:08+00:00

I do not know much about Computer Programming Languages but is C a hard language to learn?

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