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The C Trilogy: How Dennis Ritchie, Bjarne Stroustrup, and Anders Hejlsberg Built the Modern World
The article presents C, C++, and C# as three solutions to the same problem of building large software without corrupting memory. C focuses on direct hardware control, C++ adds zero-cost abstractions and RAII, and C# shifts memory management to the runtime while keeping performance tools available.
Reading notes#
- C was created at Bell Labs to write operating systems in a language closer to hardware than assembly.
- Its rule is to trust the programmer, so memory must be managed manually with malloc and free.
- C became the base layer for systems such as Linux, Windows, macOS, Git, PostgreSQL, and Python’s C runtime.
- C++ grew out of the need to handle larger software with abstractions while keeping C-level speed.
- Its design follows the idea of zero-cost abstractions and uses RAII so resources are cleaned up when objects leave scope.
- C++ is presented as a fit for game engines, browsers, financial trading, and aerospace software.
- C# was created at Microsoft after the Visual J++ dispute with Sun and was led by Anders Hejlsberg.
- It combines C-like syntax with the CLR and garbage collection, while still allowing unsafe code and Span
for low-level work. - The article places C# in web backends, cloud software, and Unity development.
- The three languages are framed as occupying different layers of the stack rather than directly replacing one another.