Ultimate Performance & Small Footprint

​1. Ultimate Performance & Small Footprint
​C remains the benchmark for "close-to-the-metal" speed. Because it has minimal runtime overhead and no garbage collector, it is the first choice for:
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​High-Frequency Trading: Where every microsecond counts.
​AI Backends: Modern AI libraries (like the core of PyTorch or TensorFlow) are often written in C or C++ to handle massive matrix calculations that would be too slow in Python.
​Low-Memory Devices: C can run on tiny microcontrollers with only a few kilobytes of RAM where modern languages simply wouldn't fit.
​2. Unrivaled Portability
​C is often called "Portable Assembly." If a new piece of hardware is invented today—whether it's a revolutionary AI chip or a smart toaster—the very first tool created for it is a C compiler.[Smartlink_228564857]
​Universal Compatibility: Code written in standard C can be compiled for almost any architecture (x86, ARM, RISC-V) with minimal changes.
​Stable Standards: Unlike modern languages that update frequently and sometimes break old code, C code from 20 years ago often compiles perfectly today with a modern compiler.
​3. The "Lingua Franca" of Software
​Most of the world's most critical software is still built on C. This creates a massive advantage in terms of interoperability:
​The OS Kernel: Linux, Windows, and macOS kernels are primarily C.
​FFI (Foreign Function Interface): Almost every other language (Python, Ruby, Node.js, Rust) has a way to talk to C. If you write a library in C, every other programmer in the world can use it.
​4. Deterministic Behavior
​In real-time systems (like medical devices, car braking systems, or flight controllers), you need to know exactly how long a line of code will take to execute.
​No "Stop-the-World" Pauses: High-level languages like Java or Python can randomly pause your program to clean up memory (Garbage Collection). C gives the programmer full control, ensuring the code reacts instantly every single time.
​Comparison: Why C still wins in 2026