> But I’m also an old.

That explains why the C code is so neat. You don't see young'uns write such compact C code any more. Well done.

After years using higher-level languages, my C code has become verbose and clunky, when it doesn't necessarily have to be (and memory safety is no concern)

That's the nice thing about a little side project, I can just have fun and noodle away at it without worrying about safety or comments ;)