I think if you are interested in systems or embedded programming C is definitely a good language to learn still. I programmed in C ( and C++ ) most of the 90s,

I think if you are interested in systems or embedded programming C is definitely a good language to learn still. I programmed in C ( and C++ ) most of the 90s, focused on C++ and other languages for the 00s, then came back to it 2010ish, and I found it refreshing using modern techniques in C. However, I'd still say avoid it if you don't have to use it. But the key here is knowing exactly what you are trading off before choosing to avoid it. In most cases C++ is a viable alternative ( not always ). Rust is starting to look good in the embedded world, but I'd like to see more vendor support for it, and very few professional Rust devs in the embedded space. C is still often the better tradeoff. Also Electronics Engineers often only know C which lets them debug and diagnose hardware. So in the embedded world, you should know C, in the systems world, its a good idea, it will let you read a large majority of all open source system level software