Comment by jerf

It is true. How much of the truth is credited to "longtime" and how much is credited to "C" is up for debate, though. Personally I'd put most of it on the "longtime" side, and observe that if you want to learn how to write really efficient, performant code quickly, there are a number of other options developing where you can skip the part where you stab yourself with the language for five years learning where the sharp bits are. C is not dead yet, but I'm feeling increasingly confident we've finally entered the era where its days are now numbered.