In my mind, C very closely resembles what's going on in my mind's model of the computer. I "think" in C when I'm thinking about an algorithm. It's almost exactl

In my mind, C very closely resembles what's going on in my mind's model of the computer. I "think" in C when I'm thinking about an algorithm. It's almost exactly the same as the fake language people sometimes use for explaining an algorithm. I think this property contributes towards the popularity. No "artificial" abstractions like classes, templates, modules, imports etc. Just think of the first step you would do to solve a problem, and write it. Then think of the next step, and write that. And you get fast, portable code that produces tiny binaries! What more do you need?