&gt;<i>In that meaning, it&#x27;s true but only as an accident of history that has little to nothing to do with C&#x27;s design itself.</i><p>I don&#x27;t believe that for a second. C had very specific performance and memory characteristics that alternatives didn&#x27;t have.<p>&gt;<i>C was what compiled and ran fast on old hardware. That&#x27;s it.</i><p>That&#x27;s a HUGE pragmatic benefit, not a &quot;historical accident&quot;.