What is a .C file?
A .C file is a special kind of computer file that contains instructions written in the C or C++ programming language. These instructions tell the computer how to perform specific tasks, like solving a math problem or displaying text on the screen. The .C file might hold all the instructions for a whole computer program or just a part of it, especially if the program is big and made up of many such files.
To work with .C files, you can use programs that let you write and change these instructions, known as source code editors or plain text editors. Some popular ones include Eclipse IDE for C Developers, Microsoft Visual Studio Code, and Code::Blocks. After you've written or changed the instructions in a .C file, you need to use another program called a compiler. This program translates the instructions from the C or C++ language into a language the computer can understand directly, making it possible for the program to run on your computer.
There are many compilers and editors available for different types of computers and operating systems. Some well-known ones are GNU Emacs, Vim, and Microsoft Visual Studio. There are also versions of these programs for mobile devices, like File Viewer for Android.
The C programming language, which you use to write instructions in .C files, was created in the late 1960s and early 1970s by Dennis Ritchie at Bell Labs. It was initially developed to make utilities for the Unix operating system. Over the years, C has become very popular and is used to create all sorts of software, including operating systems, games, and database systems. The language has been standardized by organizations like ANSI and ISO, and it has influenced many other programming languages, such as C++, PHP, Perl, Python, Java, and JavaScript. C++ is actually an extension of C, and it uses similar file types for its source code, including .CC, .CPP, .CXX, in addition to .C files.
In some cases, especially on Unix systems, the .C extension might be used for C++ files, while .c (lowercase) is used for C files, but this is not a common practice everywhere.
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