Why C Still Matters:
Learning from the Fundamentals
Despite modern programming languages that make our work easier in many ways and also ensure safer results, I am an absolute fan of C. In comparison, I have done relatively little productive work with it in recent years, but I really appreciate the simplicity and control. Only at this level do you truly have everything in your hands. And you really have the freedom to break everything. 😉 But isn’t it also about being able to learn from mistakes?
Even though I no longer use C in my daily work, I still want to understand how things work under the hood. In his short videos, Prof. Jacob Sorber repeatedly addresses topics that are often taken for granted in modern languages. In one of his recent videos - “Making allocators and object pools faster using a free list” - he explains how to speed up object pools using free lists.
In Go 1.3, sync.Pool was introduced, which reduces the pressure on the garbage collector by caching allocated but
unused items for reuse.
Pool’s purpose is to cache allocated but unused items for later reuse, relieving pressure on the garbage collector. That is, it makes it easy to build efficient, thread-safe free lists. However, it is not suitable for all free lists.
By understanding how structures work even in modern languages, you can use the available tools more efficiently. To build performant and resource-efficient code, it is crucial to be able to evaluate the results of your code. However, due to abstraction, it is complicated to become aware of the consequences. This requires more background knowledge, which is why I always encourage people to truly understand and familiarize themselves with the technical environment they operate in.
One of the simplest examples is slices in Go. From the outside, they appear to be an “endlessly” growing array. But to use them efficiently, you need to be aware of how they work. How a slice dynamically allocates more memory as it grows, and how specifying the capacity when creating it can already yield incredible performance gains.
Even though C is being used less and less in new projects, it is an excellent tool for learning. It hides nothing and forgives nothing. C allows you to make mistakes and gives you unlimited possibilities. So don’t shy away from diving deeper into your chosen tech stack. Understand how the gears under the hood mesh together. This will set you apart and enable you to deliver superior results.