C

[snopes]

Comment: Ever since I was a freshman Computer Science major in college
many years ago, I have heard the rumor that the hugely popular C
programming language got its name due to the fact that one of the founders
of the language (either Kernaugh or Ritchie) submitted it as a research
project in college. Due to certain shortcomings and eccentricies of the
language, the professor gave the research project a grade of "C" and that
was the reason for the name.

For years I have heard some who swear the story is true, others who insist
it is apocryphal, and most who have no idea one way or the other.

[Amigone201]

According to Wikipedia, C was so named because it derived a lot of its code from an earlier programming language, B. Dennis Richie completed it in 1973, six years after he started working at Bell Labs. A little number-playing indicates that if Richie went to college right after high school, he probably started in 1959. If he didn't have any delays, he would have graduated in 1963.

I don't see any way this legend could have merit.

[Richard W]

My nearest C textbook (Barclay) says almost the same thing:

It was designed by Dennis Ritchie of Bell Laboratories and implemented there in 1972 on a PDP-11. ... C evolved from the programming languages B and BCPL.

I've never heard anybody tell the story above.

[diddy]

Originally Posted by Richard W

I've never heard anybody tell the story above.

Neither have I - and I took several computer science courses in college (that was initial major until I realized that I sucked at programming)

[Astra]

Same as the others - former computer science major, never heard the story in the OP, only the explanation that it followed B and BCPL.

[Singing in the Drizzle]

Originally Posted by Astra

Same as the others - former computer science major, never heard the story in the OP, only the explanation that it followed B and BCPL.

This explains a lot. I first learned assemble language on a PDP-11, the version was referred to as a macro assembler. The difference was that you could write a assemble language program/function give it a name and variable to pass and then store it library for later use. Then if you need that program/function while writing an assembly language program, you just added a line that called it from the library and passed it the variables it needed. When I first saw C it look very much like the macro assembler programs I was writing in class. The only difference is some to the time to write a library filled with useful programs and functions. It even looked like you could easy write your own program/function in assembly language and add it to the library.

I have never programed it C language only looked over the code and started reading the books for a class that was canceled. Then my career took a change of direction and I never had a need to learn programing again or time.

[Il-Mari]

Just out of curiosity, would creating a new programming language be a reasonable 'research project in college'?

It seems a bit too ambitious, though I don't really know about the field. Would it maybe make more sense if they created something like a proposal for a new language, with some features listed out along with benefits and disadvantages compared to earlier systems, more like the origin of this legend:

http://www.snopes.com/business/origins/fedex.asp

- Il-Mari

[Astra]

I would say it would depend on how complex the language is. Defining the rules for syntax and creating a small instruction set would definitely be possible. Creating a language equal in complexity to existing ones that have had years to expand and evolve, not likely. Sort of the difference between creating an equivalent to pig latin compared to creating the equivalent of modern English.

[htonl]

Originally Posted by Il-Mari

Just out of curiosity, would creating a new programming language be a reasonable 'research project in college'?

It depends. I don't think that just creating a new language on its own would be a common research project; but you might create a language as a demonstration of some result or some new concept you've thought up.

As to the size of the project, in the Computer Science degree at my university we spent the last semester (so about four months) on a large research project. Certainly it's feasible to create a new programming language as part of such a project. One of my friends did exactly that; it was to demonstrate the feasibility of a particular technique.

ETA: I agree with Astra that it would likely be a "toy" language in such a project. Admittedly, C was a pretty simple language when Ritchie first came up with it. (Not that I'm suggesting he did do it at college; it's pretty clear he came up with it at Bell Labs when they were creating UNIX.)

[jimmy101_again]

Originally Posted by Il-Mari

Just out of curiosity, would creating a new programming language be a reasonable 'research project in college'?

It seems a bit too ambitious, though I don't really know about the field.

You would be surprised just how easily a good programmer could do it. IIRC, that's pretty much how Perl got started. One guy wanting to do one particular type of problem and finding that it's a PITA in existing languages.

C is actually an incredibly simple language. A computer science grad student really shouldn't have any trouble creating a language like C. Heck, a talented undergrad should be able to do it. Folks often forget that the "language" is just the syntax and structure. After the language is written there is often thousands, perhaps millions, of person-hours going into creating the various libraries the language uses. C is small and simple. A useable version of C requires libraries that are much bigger and more complex than the language itself.

[Troberg]

Originally Posted by Il-Mari

Just out of curiosity, would creating a new programming language be a reasonable 'research project in college'?

I did it at university, as a part of a project that also involved crating a simple FPGA micro processor. I've also done some script languages later. None of them as popular as C, though...

Really, making a programming language isn't very hard, if you grasp the basic principles. The next language I make will probably be based on RPN (Reverse Polish Notation), as it makes the syntax much clearer and the parsing ridiculously simple. Once you get used to RPN, you don't understand whatever got into the heads of people to make them use any other notation, it's simply superior.

Originally Posted by jimmy101_again

You would be surprised just how easily a good programmer could do it.

Exactly, and most good programmers has done it at some point in their career.

Originally Posted by jimmy101_again

C is actually an incredibly simple language. A computer science grad student really shouldn't have any trouble creating a language like C. Heck, a talented undergrad should be able to do it. Folks often forget that the "language" is just the syntax and structure. After the language is written there is often thousands, perhaps millions, of person-hours going into creating the various libraries the language uses. C is small and simple. A useable version of C requires libraries that are much bigger and more complex than the language itself.

Once again, exactly. The language is just the basic framework that controls execution, manages memory (except that in C, it doesn't manage memory) and some other book keeping tasks. Everything else is libraries. Even better, when you make a language, it's perfectly possible to use libraries designed for another language, at least as a way to get started.

[ganzfeld]

Brin and Page got a googol out of googol points on their project. That's why they named their company... never mind.

[Floater]

Bah! Everyone knows that C, together with Unix, is just a very elaborate hoax.

[Der Induktionator]

Certainly untrue. Ritchie (Who created of the language with Ken Thompson at Bell labs) studied math and physics. Kernighan (who co-authored K&R) studied physics and electrical engineering.

So C is a language created by mathematicians, physicists and engineers, none of which would have such a college research project. Not by CS majors.

[ganzfeld]

Originally Posted by Der Induktionator

Certainly untrue. Ritchie (Who created of the language with Ken Thompson at Bell labs) studied math and physics. Kernighan (who co-authored K&R) studied physics and electrical engineering.

So C is a language created by mathematicians, physicists and engineers, none of which would have such a college research project. Not by CS majors.

Well, I don't know about that. A lot of work done in computer science at the time was done under a different academic umbrella. Even many of the best known schools in the field didn't have a department by that name until around the time C and Unix emerged and many more didn't until much later. So there really were very few "CS majors" at that time. (Far fewer when they were in college?)

[Der Induktionator]

Originally Posted by ganzfeld

Well, I don't know about that....

An article by Dennis Ritchie himself describes the origin of the language.

Of all people, I think he would know the origin of the language that he created, and can be counted on as a reliable source. His own article references a large number of further sources as the basis of his work.

[ganzfeld]

Originally Posted by Der Induktionator

An article by Dennis Ritchie himself describes the origin of the language.

Yes, I do know about that. (And if I didn't I could just read the thread.)

My "I don't know about that" referred to your objection that he and Kernighan weren't "CS majors". Most computer science majors at the time majored in two of several subjects K&R majored in: math and electrical engineering. Few places even offered a degree in "computer science". So it doesn't make any sense to say, "They couldn't have done it in college; they weren't even CS majors." That's all.

[Troberg]

Originally Posted by Der Induktionator

An article by Dennis Ritchie himself describes the origin of the language.

Of all people, I think he would know the origin of the language that he created, and can be counted on as a reliable source. His own article references a large number of further sources as the basis of his work.

On the other hand, over the time, he has given various stories on that subject, including that it started as a joke, so I think we should take it with a pinch of salt.

But one can't deny that he has an impressive beard. :-E <impressive beard smiley

[Der Induktionator]

Sorry, but I refuse to continue this into an argument.

[ganzfeld]

Originally Posted by Der Induktionator

Sorry, but I refuse to continue this into an argument.

I don't understand why there would be one. I just want to point out that it's not true that they weren't computer science students.

Princeton, where Kernighan studied computer science, didn't have a computer science major until at least the mid 70's (and didn't have a computer science department until the mid 80's). Ritchie studied computer science at Harvard. They offered degrees in computer science under Applied Mathematics and other departments in the Division of Engineering and Applied Physics. (It is now the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, and there is a Computer Science Department.) C was created by computer scientists who had been computer scientists since their college days. Their degrees were in things that don't sound like "computer science" simply because that phrase was only just beginning to emerge as its own "major" (but not at their schools yet).