Programming Languages

Language is the way of communication
between tow persons. If we want to interact to someone we should know
his/her language. Same in the case of computer if we want to interact
with computer we should know the language of computer. Computers only
understand one language that called binary. Binary is easy to understand
by computers but difficult for humans, so humans create some
translators that help them to communicate with computer. Based on these
translators we differentiate computer languages in two categories:

Low level programming languages
High level programming languages

Low level programming languages

A group of languages that are easy for
computers but difficult for humans. To use low level languages, you
should be aware of syntax of language as well as architecture of that
specific machine. Low level languages are machine dependent. It means if
you write code for one computer that code will work only for that
machine. If you change the computer, you must make several changes in
syntax of programme.

Machine language is the basic computer
language. It consists of 0 and 1. All the instructions given to the
computer are written in the form of 0 and 1. Machine language is
difficult to learn and debug. If there is any mistake in the code it is
very difficult to find out. Programme written in machine language are
machine dependent.

Assembly language is another example of
low level language. It is very close to machine language nut it also
uses some English like words called mnemonics. It provides facility to
control hardware with the help of programming. Code written in assembly
could not run directly on computer. We need a translator programme
called Assembler. Assembly language is also machine dependent.

High level programming languages

A computer language that is close to
human language is called high level language. It is easy to learn,
understand and use. High level languages use more English like words,
but these are not flexible as human languages. The programme written in
high level language is not able to run directly on computer. We need
some translator programs to communicate with the computer. Every
language has its own translator called compiler or interpreter. We can
categories high level languages into three groups that are:

Procedural languages
Non-procedural languages
Object-Oriented Programming languages

Procedural languages

These languages are also known as third generation languages. All the
instructions are given to the computer step by step. Few of them are
FOTRON, COBOL, PASCAL, C, LISP and BASIC.

FORTRAN: stands for FORmula TRANlation.
It was the early high-level language. It was designed to solve
scientific and mathematical problems.

COBOL: stands for COmmon Business Oriented Language. This was designed to solve business relevant problems.

PASCAL: named in the honor of French
mathematician and philosopher Blaise Pascal. It was commonly used to
solve educational and scientific problems.

C: very popular and commonly used high
level language. It is most developed high-level language and commonly
used to build system software.

LISP: stands for LISt Processing, used to develop expert system.

BASIC: stands for Beginner�s All-purpose
Symbolic Instruction Code. It was developed for beginners and students
to teach them basic concepts of programming.

Non-Procedural languages:

These types of languages don�t require
traditional programming logic. They only concern about the input and
output. The focus is about �what is to be done�. Commonly used for
quires to get data from data base.

SQL: stands for Structured Query
Language, developed by IBM. It is used to perform different operations
on database such as manipulation, creation, updating and deleting data
from database tables.

Object-Oriented Programming language:

It was introduced in late 1960�s. these
days it is the most commonly used approach to build software these days.
A system is designed by using objects. A problem is divided into
different objects. It is very flexible approach. Most commonly used
languages are C++ and JAVA.

Advantages of High-level programming languages:

These types of languages are easy to learn because of most syntax of these languages are English like words.
Program written in high-language is easy to understand.
A new programme is very easy to write within a short time.
It is very easy to detect and remove errors from a programme.
High-level languages provide a lot of built-in function that help to perform a task easily and save considerable amount of time.

Programme written in high-level language is machine independent. If
you write code on one type of computer it will work perfectly on other
type of computer.

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