Maybe C simply has become a modern replacement for assembly language? (before LLVM) C is/was a target for some other compilers to emit simply because, prior t

Maybe C simply has become a modern replacement for assembly language? (before LLVM) C is/was a target for some other compilers to emit simply because, prior to LLVM, it was a sort of universal assembly language with a rich set of implementations on any conceivable hardware. In the 21st century, is C really being used as a higher level application programming language? I doubt it. That is why so many languages exist at a much higher level of abstraction. Yet C is great close to the hardware, like micro controllers, operating systems, device drivers, codecs, other specialty high performance libraries.