Well, emitting C is easier than emitting LLIR. Not just in the sense that you know C already and don't know LLIR yet, but if your source language is close enoug

Well, emitting C is easier than emitting LLIR. Not just in the sense that you know C already and don't know LLIR yet, but if your source language is close enough to C semantics (basically, it's imperative language), you can most of the time generate the code in one straightforward walk over your whole AST. In fact, translating it to some home-made lowered IR and then to C would probably produce less effective binary.