The Development of the C Language Alive
The Development of the C Language
KindPaper
Published1993
StatusAlive
AuthorsDennis Ritchie
Sourcewww.bell-labs.com ↗
Ritchie's own history — BCPL to B to C, told by the only person who could. The primary source for how the most influential language actually came to be.
1960198020002020
Created by Dennis Ritchie
Describes C
Ritchie's HOPL-II paper recounts C's actual design history: BCPL via Thompson's stripped-down B on the PDP-7, typed for the PDP-11 as NB, then C — with candid notes on what came from where and which accidents became permanent (the '*' dereference, arrays-pointers equivalence).
As primary source it's unmatched: Ritchie documents dates, influences, and the moments portability won. The paper ends before C's dominance made such modesty impossible — 'C is quirky, flawed, and an enormous success' is his own earlier verdict.