The days of the PDP-11, once favored by computer science departments, have given way to complex systems like multi-core processors with pipelining and caching. However, many developers still rely on C programming, which was designed for a flat memory model and straightforward execution.
The problem lies not in the language itself but in how modern hardware has adapted to preserve the old C abstract machine. This illusion creates a mismatch between what C promises and what the hardware actually does. As a result, performance bottlenecks, debugging issues, and security vulnerabilities are on the rise.
This gap affects not just C programmers but developers who imagine their code running as it was originally intended. The shift from theoretical to practical understanding of coding is crucial in modern software development.
Source: https://levelup.gitconnected.com/c-is-not-low-level-anymore-70664a1974cb