Is C programming language low level or high level? [duplicate]

softwareengineering.stackexchange https://softwareengineering.stackexchange.com/questions/303117

Question

What do you think, is C programming language low or high level?

There are some information, in one is said that C is low level, and another C is high level? When I read book of Dennis Ritchie and Brian Kernighan, there is written "C is a relatively "low level" language"?

Was it helpful?

Solution

It's completely context dependent.

  • Compared to PHP, C is low level;
  • Compared to x86 assembly, C is high level;
  • Compared to the instructions I used to construct this universe in which you reside, C is so high level you can barely see it.

It depends who you're talking to, and about what, as to what the answer is. C is a bit of a unique beast, though, because (as Mike pointed out in comments), it's the lowest-level of all general-purpose, architecture-independent programming languages, and these are the languages you're most likely to encounter in modern reality. So, in practice, you're likely to hear C being deemed "low level" unless you're talking to someone who fiddles bits in registers with a soldering iron for a living.

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