C is a powerful, general-purpose programming language that has been around for decades. It's known for its efficiency, flexibility, and portability, making it a cornerstone of systems programming, embedded systems, and many other areas of software development.

Key Characteristics:

 * Low-Level Access: C allows you to interact directly with computer hardware, giving you fine-grained control over system resources.

 * Efficiency: C code is typically compiled into machine code, resulting in fast execution speeds.

 * Portability: C programs can be compiled and run on a wide variety of operating systems and hardware platforms.

 * Flexibility: C can be used for a wide range of applications, from operating systems and device drivers to game development and scientific computing.

C is a powerful and widely-used programming language developed by Dennis Ritchie in the early 1970s at Bell Labs. It is a general-purpose, structured language known for its efficiency and close interaction with computer hardware. C provides low-level memory access and high-level functionality, making it a favorite for system programming.