Best of C Programming — October 2025

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   Video

   bigboxSWE·30w

   Why were 90s programmers so legendary?

   Explores why 1990s programmers like John Carmack, Linus Torvalds, and Richard Stallman became legendary figures. The era's severe hardware constraints—limited RAM, slow processors, and scarce resources—forced developers to write highly optimized code and build tools from scratch. Without modern conveniences like package managers, AI assistants, or abundant tutorials, programmers had to master low-level optimization techniques, including manual memory management and assembly code. While the problems were simpler in scope compared to today's distributed systems, the technical challenges were significantly harder, creating a generation of developers with deep systems knowledge.

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2. 2
   Article

   Hacker News·32w

   Why Is SQLite Coded In C

   SQLite remains implemented in C because it provides optimal performance, universal compatibility across platforms and languages, minimal runtime dependencies, and stability. C enables SQLite to be called from any programming language, requires only basic standard library functions, and avoids the complexity of modern language runtimes. While safe languages like Rust are acknowledged as potential future options, the SQLite team prioritizes mature, well-understood languages and notes that recoding would likely introduce more bugs than it would fix. The article addresses common questions about why SQLite wasn't built with object-oriented languages or modern safe alternatives.

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3. 3
   Article

   Micah Norwood·31w

   How to Get Into Embedded Systems

   A web developer with 6 years of professional experience seeks guidance on transitioning into embedded systems development. They're looking for project recommendations, community groups, and learning paths to explore lower-level programming concepts, with willingness to learn C or C++.

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   Article

   C/C++ Community·33w

   Built a JavaScript runtime in C to understand how Node.js, Bun & Deno actually work

   Learn how JavaScript runtimes work by building Jade, a minimal runtime in C using JavaScriptCore and libuv. Explores the connection between JavaScript and system-level operations, event loop implementation, and native API exposure. Provides hands-on insight into the architecture behind Node.js, Bun, and Deno.

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   Article

   Hacker News·32w

   ashtonjamesd/lavandula: A fast, lightweight web framework in C for building modern web applications

   Lavandula is a lightweight web framework written in C that provides routing, middleware, HTTP endpoints, and built-in features like logging, SQLite integration, and JSON support. The framework includes a CLI tool for scaffolding projects and aims to deliver performance with minimal dependencies. Currently in active development with planned features including an ORM, HTML templating engine, session management, and CORS configuration.

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   Article

   daniel.haxx.se·32w

   A new breed of analyzers

   Daniel Stenberg shares how AI-powered code analyzers discovered over 400 potential bugs in curl, including legitimate security vulnerabilities. Tools like Google's Big Sleep and ZeroPath identified issues that traditional analyzers missed by scanning all code paths without requiring builds. The curl team fixed approximately 50 bugs from the initial reports, with many more under review. These AI tools represent an evolutionary step in code analysis, finding memory leaks, protocol violations, and logic errors that existed undetected for years, though they don't fundamentally change the development process.

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   Article

   Lobsters·34w

   Systems Programming with Zig

   A comprehensive guide to Zig, a modern systems programming language designed for high-performance, low-level development. Covers writing idiomatic Zig code, integrating with C and system libraries, and building systems programs like OS kernels, device drivers, and utilities. Explores networking, interpreters, and graphics implementation from scratch, positioning Zig as a productive alternative to C, C++, and Rust that emphasizes performance and safety without heavy framework dependencies.

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