C is a powerful, general-purpose programming language that's particularly favored for system-level and performance-critical applications. Developed in the early 1970s, it is widely used for operating systems, embedded software, and other low-level applications where efficient interaction with hardware is crucial. For application developers, C offers a rich set of features, including direct access to memory management and low-level data manipulation via pointers, which enables optimized performance. Its minimalistic design, which avoids complex features, makes it a great choice for developers looking to build efficient programs with close-to-metal precision. However, this also means that you are responsible for manual memory management and error handling, which, if not done carefully, can lead to security vulnerabilities such as buffer overflows. Despite its age, C remains relevant due to its portability, being succeptible to various platforms with negligible modifications. Understanding C can greatly enhance an application developer’s ability to write sophisticated, high-performance code and gain insight into the functioning of modern software systems.

View the most prominent open source C projects in the list below. Click on a specific project to view its alternative or complementary packages.