Ask HN: If Unix is written in C, how did they run C before Unix?

Re:Ask HN: If Unix is written in C, how did they run C befor... by bdowling on Tuesday April 04, 2023 @01:30PM (#35443119)

C existed as a cross platform language long before there was a C standard specification or standard headers. Specifically, C was introduced around 1972 and the first standard was 1989. (Wikipedia). There were C compilers for non-Unix systems during that time (e.g., Borland Turbo C for MS-DOS around 1987). (Wikipedia).

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Re:Ask HN: If Unix is written in C, how did they run C befor... by JohnFen on Tuesday April 04, 2023 @01:42PM (#35443323)

I was using C compilers for micros well before those upstarts like Borland and MS (or even DOS) came around. The first micro I used C on was a Cromemco System III, running CP/M. That machine was built in 1977, I think, although I was using it a few years later than that.

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Re:Ask HN: If Unix is written in C, how did they run C befor... by pjmlp on Wednesday April 05, 2023 @04:57AM (#35451255)

The K&R C dialects were anything but portable, specially in non UNIX platforms.

There was hardly anything much portable across RatC, Small-C, and other K&R C subsets.

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