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Is C Language Still Worth Learning? Pros and Cons for Modern Programmers
While C remains a powerful and popular language in certain contexts, its complexity and limited use in web and mobile apps — and lack of "coolness" — make it less appealing for many programmers today.
5 Min Read
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Viewed from one perspective, C remains a vital programming language that is absolutely still worth learning. From another point of view, however, C is an increasingly obsolete language, and mastering it just isn't worth the effort for most programmers.
Who's right? Should you still invest time in learning C in the 2020s? We can't answer those questions definitively, but we can offer perspective based on the current status of C and programming trends that are likely to shape its future.
(Note that we're talking in this article about C itself, not C-based languages like C++ and C#. Whether you should learn those C alternatives is fodder for another day's discussion.)
The State of C in 2024
The first thing to note about C at present is that it's still a very popular language according to many sources. The TIOBE Index ranks C as the fourth most popular language as of September 2024 (although that's a decrease from second place a year ago).
The most recent Stack Overflow Developer Survey places C in 12th place on the list of "desired" and "admired" languages. By that measure, C is somewhat less popular than languages like Go, Rust, and Python, but it's hardly a marginal language.
It's worth noting, too, that C, which originated all the way back in 1969, remains the language at the core of some of the world's most important software platforms — like Linux, to name the most prominent example. This is partly because C code typically runs quickly and efficiently, making C a popular language for use cases (like operating system development) where performance is critical.
Is C's Popularity Declining?
On the other hand, there are signs that some folks see C as a language well past its prime.
One list of legacy programming languages includes C alongside other "old" languages, like Fortran. That's notable because, although C is not much younger than Fortran and the like, C is a much more versatile language that has been used across a wide variety of platforms — whereas Fortran is often considered legacy because its main use case was mainframe application development, which is no longer mainstream.
And again, rankings of programming languages by popularity, including the TIOBE Index, show C slipping somewhat from its position in earlier years, even though it remains popular overall.
What's Making C Less Popular?
If C is indeed becoming less popular than it used to be, it's probably due to factors like the following:
Difficult to use: Whether or not a language is hard to learn and use is subjective. Still, it's hard to argue that C is not an above-average difficult language to work with. It requires mastery of relatively low-level programming concepts that are less important in other, simpler languages.
Lack of versatility: C is often considered a versatile language because you can write many types of applications in it. However, C is very rarely used for web and mobile apps, which occupy a major share of the software development landscape today. You could probably build a mobile app in C if you really, really tried, but it would not be easy. For that reason, C can feel less flexible.
Lack of security: There is a perception — and it's not entirely unfounded — that C is not a very secure language. It lacks built-in security memory protection features and compile-time checks that help prevent flaws that could expose applications to vulnerabilities.
Lack of coolness: Arguably, C is among the least "cool" of today's widely used programming languages. It lacks the name recognition of Python, which even non-programmers have often heard about. It's not as trendy as some newer languages, like Rust and Swift. Perhaps the only language that compares with C in terms of uncoolness is Java, which also feels a bit stale and boring.
Should You Still Learn C?
On the one hand, C is still relatively popular, and C code is running in many different places. This suggests that C is indeed worth learning today.
On the other hand, C is a hard language to learn, it doesn't lend itself well to important use cases like web and mobile development, it's not especially secure, and few people consider it cool. From this perspective, learning C may seem like a waste of time. It might seem like a better investment to teach yourself a trendier language, like Python, or one suited to specific use cases, like JavaScript (which is the go-to language for front-end web development).
If you put all of the above together, you're likely to come to the conclusion that whether or not C is worth learning depends on what your goals are. C is probably worth learning if you want to do one of the following:
Learn the ins and outs of programming. C will force you to master concepts that you'll never touch if you learn a more abstract language, like Python.
Contribute to a platform written in C, like Linux.
Write applications that perform well.
But if your main goal is to learn a language quickly, you should probably start with Python, not C. If you want to develop a web or mobile app, learn JavaScript. If you want to master a versatile language that is widely used in business settings, teach yourself Java.
The bottom line: C remains a vital programming language, and it's worth learning for some people — but certainly not all.
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