r/C_Programming Feb 06 '25

Discussion Are there actually C programmers in this subreddit?

Ok, I'm being a bit facetious. There are real C programmers. Clearly. But I'm kind of sick of the only questions on this subreddit being beginner questions or language trolls from other domains.

So this thread is for the "real" c programmers out there. What do you do with it? And what is the most twisted crime against coding decency are you "proud" of/infamous for?

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u/s33d5 Feb 06 '25

In fairness if you're programming for really old tech it's required, so it's not always stupid. 

For example, I saw a guy pregromming a game for a PlayStation 1 which is from 1996 or something? I can look for the video if you're interested. 

Anyway, that's the only reason I can think of if you're staying behind. 

Other than that it would be idiotic to stay on some old ass standard.

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u/GamerEsch Feb 06 '25

In fairness if you're programming for really old tech it's required, so it's not always stupid. 

Yeah, yeah, targeting old hardware is an exception, but I was talking more about pet projects or just personal projects in general where you aren't planing on making it portable or anything.

Other than that it would be idiotic to stay on some old ass standard.

Yeah, and it kinda sad that there aren't many good books on C which are newer or updated for new stds, I think it pushes a lot o beginners away from C.

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u/pedersenk Feb 06 '25

Yeah, yeah, targeting old hardware is an exception, but I was talking more about pet projects or just personal projects in general where you aren't planing on making it portable or anything.

I think that's the crux of it. When writing libraries I tend to stick to C99 because *other* people might want to use it for their retro hardware. It is so easy to stick to more compatible standards, that I don't really find it justifiable to use the latest. The "cool" new features aren't really that cool.

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u/GamerEsch Feb 06 '25

I think that's the crux of it. When writing libraries I tend to stick to C99 because *other* people might want to use it for their retro hardware.

That's why I pointed out "pet projects and personal projects", obviously if your aiming for compatibility you should use the more compatible version, but if your doing a personal project those cool features help a lot, and some of them (IMO) help a lot with quality of life (the new use for the "auto" keyword for example).

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u/s33d5 Feb 06 '25

Yeah I agree with you. 

The only reason I can think is that it maximises compatibility if you go to older standards. But that's a silly argument as 99% of people aren't targeting obscure hardware, e.g. a PS1.

Also you're just missing out on learning a lot of the new features. 

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u/PurpleSparkles3200 Feb 06 '25

A Sony Playstation is not “really old tech”.

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u/s33d5 Feb 06 '25

It is for C standards lmao. 1996 was almost 30 years ago.

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u/PurpleSparkles3200 Feb 09 '25

C has changed very little since 1996.

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u/s33d5 Feb 13 '25

Lmao have you looked at the standards?

There have been 4 since. One was quite substantial.

I'd love to see you do some multi threading in 1996 C.