4 ms·
When C was declared to be "high level", there did not exist a level higher than C. Now that there are more levels above C, it is not the highest level language
by philipov 3y ago
When C was declared to be "high level", there did not exist a level higher than C. Now that there are more levels above C, it is not the highest level language out there, which makes it low level compared to them. It is not the lowest level, but it's not a misunderstanding to call it low level. The playing field is not the same as it was 50 years ago, so relative terms like "low" and "high" have naturally changed referends.
- coldtea 3y agoHuh? Tons of languages at levels "higher than C" existed at that time C was created, and they were popular too. LISP (1960), Smalltalk (1972), BASIC (1963), FORTRAN (1957), COBOL (1959) and countless others. Heck, ALGOL (1958, 1968) was much higher level than C too.
- pjmlp 3y agoYes it did, outside Bell Labs.