c syntax lives on in many languages like java and javascript. it was the second language that i learned behind java, this was back in 1998. i still think it's

c syntax lives on in many languages like java and javascript. it was the second language that i learned behind java, this was back in 1998. i still think it's a great language because you have so much control over the important things like memory management and pointers, how priceless (albeit dangerous) is that? string manipulation was a real detail that i could live without and exception handling was non-existent (don't go there with goto labels), but overall it was a clean language, you could optimize the hell out of things like byte boundaries for structures, you just felt like you had full control, it's the closest thing i had to assembly without the syntax being too cryptic. that was the good old days and i think it was an important foundation for me in terms of learning how to be anal as hell with source code.