Drop any file to identify it
No upload. No signup. No sending your file halfway across the internet.
We tell you what it is, right here in your browser.
Drop it!
Let go to identify this file.
Couldn't identify this file
Need to convert it? fwip it →
You're looking at a .c file — source code written in C, one of the most foundational programming languages ever created. Dennis Ritchie developed C at Bell Labs in 1972 to write Unix, and the language went on to underpin most of modern computing. Your operating system, your browser's rendering engine, your database, and your phone's firmware all have significant amounts of C in them.
C gives you direct access to memory, hardware, and system calls with minimal overhead — which is why it's still the language of choice for operating systems (Linux, Windows kernel), embedded systems, game engines, and anything where nanoseconds matter. The tradeoff is that C trusts you completely. It won't stop you from reading unallocated memory, overwriting critical data, or creating security vulnerabilities. Freedom and danger come from the same source.
Any text editor opens .c files. VS Code with the C/C++ extension provides syntax highlighting and IntelliSense. To compile C code, you need a C compiler — GCC (free, Linux/macOS), Clang (free, macOS), or MSVC (Windows, included with Visual Studio). C is not a beginner language, but understanding it makes every other language make more sense.