I don't know where programming is headed (Perl 6?), but I'd like to know where are you headed, w.r.t. programming languages?
Are you trying to brush up your C out of curiosity, or a out of a practical need?
Anyway, C is alive and well, as is it's bigger brother C++.
Nowdays, programming in C instead of C++ is similar to programming in Perl without Perl's OO constructs. Anything you can do with one you can do with the other. However, if you insist on not using OO in Perl, you have to forgo many a lovingly crafted module. Similarly, if you stick to C and shy away from C++, you have to forgo a range of powerful language constructs, and ready-to-use libraries such as STL.
Rudif
P.S. The venerable K&R hello.c still compiles under a current C++ compiler (although it draws a double warning)
#include <stdio.h>
main()
{
printf("hello, world\n");
}
'main' : function should return a value; 'void' return type assumed