Why does carbon form the compound mainly by covalent bonding?

Carbon forms the compound mainly by covalent bonding due to the following reasons below:

i. The electronic configuration of carbon is 2, 4.

ii. If four electrons are added to the second orbit of carbon, its octet becomes complete and its electronic configuration becomes stable like that of the nearest inert gas neon (2, 8).

iii. Therefore, the valency of carbon is 4. However, this occurs by sharing of electron rather than a give and take of electrons.

iv. That’s why a carbon atom can form four covalent bonds with other carbon atoms or atoms of different elements.