Archive / 2026-04-02

Returning to C

C was the first programming language I learned, which is exactly why it deserves a second pass.

Draft translated from a short Org note. This version is a framing draft, not a finished essay.

I have forgotten enough of C that I no longer trust nostalgia. The value of returning to it is not sentiment. It is depth.

Why return

I want to understand systems work more clearly. That means reading lower-level code, noticing tradeoffs earlier, and recovering the discipline that C tends to demand from its users.

How I want to learn

The plan is simple:

  1. write code
  2. take notes
  3. turn those notes into articles

That loop is more useful than passive review because it forces understanding into public form.

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