'C' Programming Language: Brian Kernighan - Computerphile

"C" is one of the most widely used programming languages of all time. Prof Brian Kernighan wrote the book on "C", well, co-wrote it - on a visit to the University of Nottingham we asked him how it came about.

This video was filmed and edited by Sean Riley.

[OSVS_Mike]

I was lucky enough to be able to work at Bell Labs in the late 80s, right down the hall from Kernighan and Ritchie. I was also learning C at the time and when I spoke to them, they said ANY time you have questions, come in ANY TIME. How amazing to be taught the language by the guys who wrote it! I still have that same book with both their autographs in it.

[Tapecutter]

Thank you Brian from the bottom of my heart. Your legendary 'bible' helped me to escape the mind numbing shift work of a factory floor and has provided me with a comfortable and interesting living for the past 30yrs. The smartest thing I ever did was read and study your book, it is the gold standard of elegant code and still has pride of place on my bookshelf.

[nazavode]

Those guys at Bell Labs were brilliant. Glad that the foundation of modern computing systems was laid by people like them that valued simplicity over complexity.

[pedromonkeypedro]

I almost shed a programmer tear when he held up that copy of K&R. Shame that most people won't truly appreciate the impact this man and his peers has had on modern computing.

[rjrastapopoulos]

Maybe it's just me but learning C first makes learning other programming languages a lot easier.

[turdwarbler]

I learnt C in 1981 and I have used it for the last 40 years. It is just a fantastic language, much copied but never bettered. I now use C++, but mainly as a C with classes style language. I have always written either device drivers, or low latency high frequency trading systems, and C is the perfect language for these tasks. I love it and thank my boss Peter Madams for teaching me it all those years ago. It will see me into retirement I think.

[MrPoutsesMple]

I never thought I'd have the privilege to watch B.Kernighan talking on C.

For this, thank you Computerphile and please keep it up !!!

[vladutcornel]

I started to understand programming from "C for Dummies" by Dan Gookin.
I didn't even have a PC back then, so I read it like a novel in a school break. When I came back to school, in programming lab, the teacher gave us tasks in exchange for grades. The language was Pascal, not much related to C, but I was able complete every single task in record time, blowing everyone's mind, teacher or colleagues. Someone even thought I was cheating somehow, even though he stood next to me the whole time.
Before that, I was failing Math and several other, and I could only pass programming tests by cheating.
That was the one book that changed my life. Now I work as a programmer, with a monthly salary and everything.
(Sorry for the offtopic comment)

[ytgadfly]

I used his book many moons ago. It really pissed me off when Dennis Ritchie died around the same time as Steve Jobs and no one seemed to care. Ritchie contributed far more to computing than Jobs ever did. Without Ritchie there would be no C or Unix or spinoffs like Apples OSX

[jasondoe]

Wow, the legend himself!

Along with acclaimed hackers Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie and Robert Pike, Prof. Brian Kernighan pretty much shaped the modern world of computing.

The Unix/C duet is still the archetype and the measuring stick for modern operating systems and programming languages. Conciseness, control, exceptional engineering that didn't ever get old – and the ability to shoot yourself in the foot if you want so. Good stuff!

And the K&R C book is truly praise-worthy. Timeless and very, very elegant.

[marcnorth]

That book was, to me 25 years ago, the absolute keystone of my programming education, and Prof. Kernighan is a delight to listen to and learn from.

[ThaRSGeek]

"Ritchie was under the radar. His name was not a household name at all, but... if you had a microscope and could look in a computer, you'd see his work everywhere inside."

[hrnekbezucha]

So grateful that Computerphile came to existence. Thank you, Numberphile ^^

[pandaDotDragon]

K&R C: the best technical book I've ever read. So well written.
A course on the language plus an introduction to algorithmic plus explanations how the stdlib is implemented (page after page we can follow the evolution of the implementation). A real gem.

[pspicer]

I feel so sorry for the young CS folks today. They missed out on some real magical times. I started University just after it was published. Both he and Richie, amongst others set the stage for all we have now.

[negsurbansports]

I love how you can see the passion as he talks. It's so infectious and makes me wanna learn C!

[WickedMuis]

4:18 "...but is it a bit like making a sharper tool and using that sharper tool to make a sharper tool?"

C# ..?

[moonbeam]

Started programming when I was 28, and now I'm finishing my masters degree in natural language processing. Nowadays I mainly use Python, JavaScript and Lisp/Clojure. When I saw this video I realised I really miss programming in C. This book, and The Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs by Abelson, Sussman and Sussman are the two most important books I have read. The third is Catcher in the Rye.

[tedspradley]

A truly excellent book. In 1978 I was an assembler programmer, working on minis and micros like PDP11 and Z80. A colleague showed me this book and let me borrow it. I only read the introduction and the appendix and gave it back quickly because he hadn't read it himself yet. Ten years later I finally got my hands on a C compiler, and the language just came naturally to me, because of that appendix.

[NeilRieck]

The original K&R manual has a RED cover and is stapled rather than bound (and yet also has 3-drilled holes). IMHO this language has literally changed the world. K&R were originally thinking about how to get their new OS from an 18-bit PDP-7 to a 16-bit PDP-11 which had been ordered by was many months late. What they came up with (portable language and OS) enabled today's Open-Source movement.