Learning C has taught me one thing; I hate C.

Actually I think the only language I've learnt that didn't make me angry doing so was python, and that was because I was 14 a didn't think I was hot shit at programming yet...

Sounds like you're used to a higher level of abstraction where memory management, pointer arithmetic, etc. aren't really a thing. The syntax for C is pretty simple, but the conceptual leap can be pretty large if you're coming from something where all that stuff is handled for you.

It is very useful to know however. Not a "must have" as it once was for devs, but useful nonetheless.

@AlmondSauce Agreed except the must-have bit. I still think understanding C has a very clear advantage even today.

Most of the frustrations surrounding C have very little to do with C itself. It's usually the underlying system APIs that foul people up.

An inclusion of "why" would make this rant worth actually going over ;)

Hating C is so zoomer

@junon It has a massive advantage, but it's definitely not a must have as it once was. Back in the early 90s it was essentially a prerequisite to doing any serious development - if you were a dev, chances are you knew C.

These days very few devs know it, comparably speaking. I think it's something devs certainly *should* learn as it forces you to be able to think at the lower level of abstraction so many miss these days. It's difficult to argue it's going to be a career killer if they don't know it, though.

@AlmondSauce C is something you have to learn, while learning basics, to understand them without many abstractions blocking your sight.

It should be a career killer if one does not understand how things work internally and writes horribly inefficient code because of that.

@iiii horribly inefficient code that pays for itself because it does something valuable is still a win overall

@RememberMe it's only a win by inefficient capitalistic metrics by which ends justify means

@iiii so, companies/industry/economics (and economics != capitalism). Yeah, I'll take it. I don't like it but can't really argue that something that gets the job done is somehow useless. Flawed, certainly. Long run problem, sure. Aesthetically an abomination that makes me want to barf, sure. Valueless, no.

@iiii ... But it's clearly not that way in reality, and hasn't been for some time.

Whatever you might think of it, there's swathes of successful node / python / Java etc. devs entering the market now who have never touched C, and never intend to do so. Whether you or I think that *should* ideally be the case is largely irrelevant in the grand scheme of things - it's simply the way things are.

@AlmondSauce and that is why internet is shit right now.