Turbo C is an Integrated Development Environment and compiler for the C programming language from Borland. First introduced in 1987, it was noted for its integrated development environment, small size, extremely fast compile speed, comprehensive manuals and low price.
In May 1990, Borland replaced Turbo C with Turbo C++. In 2006, Borland reintroduced the Turbo moniker.
The beginnings
In the early 1980s, Borland enjoyed considerable success with their Turbo Pascal product and it became a popular choice when developing applications for the PC. Borland followed up that success by releasing Turbo Basic, Turbo Prolog and Turbo C.
Turbo C had the same properties as Turbo Pascal: an integrated development environment (IDE), a fast compiler, a good editor and all that for a cheap price. Nevertheless, Turbo C was not as successful as the Pascal-sister product. First, C was not a school language such as Pascal, but rather a language for professional programming and systems development. Turbo C was therefore competing with a full field of professional programming tools (Microsoft C, Lattice C, Watcom C, etc.). Turbo C did, however, have advantages in speed of compiled code, the ability for large projects to be implemented, and compared to competing compilers a very low price.
