explaingit

thealgorithms/c

★ 22,061CAudience · developerComplexity · 1/5StaleLicenseSetup · easy

TLDR

Educational collection of algorithm implementations in C, covering sorting, searching, data structures, math, and more, designed for learning with no external dependencies.

Mindmap

mindmap
  root((repo))
    What it does
      Algorithm implementations
      Educational reference
      Self-contained C code
    Topics covered
      Sorting and searching
      Data structures
      Mathematics
      Machine learning
      Physics simulations
    Key features
      No dependencies
      C11 standard
      Embedded-friendly
      Well-documented
    Use cases
      Study algorithms
      Learn C fundamentals
      Reference implementations
      Embedded systems

Things people build with this

USE CASE 1

Study how classic algorithms like sorting and searching are implemented in C.

USE CASE 2

Learn data structures and mathematical concepts through working code examples.

USE CASE 3

Use reference implementations to understand algorithm logic before coding your own.

USE CASE 4

Port algorithms to embedded systems or microcontrollers with minimal dependencies.

Tech stack

CC11

Getting it running

Difficulty · easy Time to first run · 5min
Source code is licensed under GPLv3 (copyleft); documentation is licensed under Creative Commons BY-SA 4.0. You can use and modify the code, but must share improvements under the same license.

In plain English

TheAlgorithms/C is an open-source educational collection of algorithm implementations written in the C programming language. It covers a broad range of topics: sorting and searching, data structures, mathematics, statistics, machine learning concepts, physics simulations, and more, all coded up as individual, self-contained programs in C. The goal is learning. Each implementation is meant to illustrate how an algorithm works at a fundamental level, with well-documented source code that educators and students can read and study. Because each file only uses C's own built-in standard library and no third-party packages, there is nothing extra to install, the algorithms can be compiled and run on their own. This also makes it possible to use the code on embedded systems (small computing devices like microcontrollers) with minimal changes. You would use this repository when you are studying computer science concepts and want to see how a specific algorithm is actually coded in C, or when you want reference implementations to understand the logic before applying it elsewhere. It is not a production library, it is a study resource. The code adheres to the C11 standard (a version of C from 2011) and is tested on macOS and Linux. The project is community-driven: contributors add new algorithm implementations following contribution guidelines, and the documentation is auto-generated from the source code. The source code is licensed under GPLv3, and the documentation is licensed under Creative Commons BY-SA 4.0.

Copy-paste prompts

Prompt 1
Show me how the quicksort algorithm is implemented in C from TheAlgorithms/C repository.
Prompt 2
I need to understand binary search in C, find the implementation and explain the code step by step.
Prompt 3
How does the repository implement a linked list data structure in C? Walk me through the code.
Prompt 4
I'm learning C and want to see how dynamic programming problems are solved, give me an example from TheAlgorithms/C.
Prompt 5
Can you help me adapt a matrix multiplication algorithm from TheAlgorithms/C to run on an embedded system?
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