Ans :
C is a general purpose, structured programming language. Among the two types of
programming languages discussed earlier, C lies in between these two categories.
That’s why it is often called a middle level language. It means that it combines the
elements of high-level languages with the functionality of assembly language. It
provides relatively good programming efficiency (as compared to machine-oriented
language) and relatively good machine efficiency as compared to high-level languages).
As a middle level language, C allows the manipulation of bits, bytes and
addresses – the basic elements with which the computer executes the inbuilt and
memory management functions. The flexibility of C allows it to be used for systems
programming as well as for application programming.
C is commonly called a structured language because of structural similarities to
ALGOL and Pascal. The distinguishing feature of a structured language is
compartmentalization of code and data. Structured language is one that divides the
entire program into modules using top-down approach where each module executes
one job or task. Structured language is one that allows only one entry and one exit
point to/from a block or module. It is easy for debugging, testing, and maintenance if
a language is a structured one. C supports several control structures such as while,
do-while and for and various data structures such as strucs, files, arrays etc. as
would be seen in the later units of this course. The basic unit of a C program is a
function – C’s standalone subroutine. The structural component of C makes the
programming and maintenance easier.
