



Its version of C is sometimes termed K&R C (after the book's authors), often to distinguish this early version from the later version of C standardized as ANSI C. The first edition, published February 22, 1978, was the first widely available book on the C programming language. Kernighan would write most of the book's "expository" material, and Ritchie's reference manual became its appendices. Īnother Bell Labs employee, Brian Kernighan, had written the first C tutorial, Īnd he persuaded Ritchie to coauthor a book on the language. C was created by Dennis Ritchie at Bell Labs in the early 1970s as an augmented version of Ken Thompson's B.
