Computer Language

Computer Languages

Computer language or programming language is a code used by computer programmers to communicate with a computer. Computer language establishes a flow of communication between software programs. The language enables a computer user to dictate what commands the computer must perform to process data. These languages can be classified into following categories.

1. Machine language

2. Assembly language

3. High level language

Machine Language

Machine language or machine code is the native language directly understood by the computer’s central processing unit or CPU. This type of computer language is not easy to understand, as it only uses a binary system, an element of notations containing only a series of numbers consisting of one and zero, to produce commands.

Assembly Level Language

Assembly Level Language is a set of codes that can run directly on the computer’s processor. This type of language is most appropriate in writing operating systems and maintaining desktop applications. With the assembly level language, it is easier for a programmer to define commands. It is easier to understand and use as compared to machine language.

High Level Language

High Level Languages are user-friendly languages which are similar to English with vocabulary of words and symbols. These are easier to learn and require less time to write.

They are problem oriented rather than ‘machine’ based.

Program written in a high-level language can be translated into many machine language and therefore can run on any computer for which there exists an appropriate translator.

Many high level languages have appeared since Fortran II (and many have also disappeared!), among the most widely used have been:

COBOL: Business applications

FORTRAN: Engineering & Scientific Applications

PASCAL: General use and as a teaching tool

C & C++:General Purpose - currently most popular

PROLOG: Artificial Intelligence

JAVA: For web contents and gaming - gaining popularity rapidly

Compiler & Interpreter

These are the programs that execute instructions written in a high-level language. There are two ways to run programs written in a high-level language. The most common is to compile the program; the other method is to pass the program through an interpreter.

a. Compiler 
A compiler is a special program that processes statements written in a particular programming language called as source code and converts them into machine language or “machine code” that a computer’s processor uses.

Compiler translates high level language programs directly into machine language program. This process is called compilation.

b. Interpreter

An interpreter translates high-level instructions into an intermediate form, which it then executes. Compiled programs generally run faster than interpreted programs. The advantage of an interpreter, however, is that it does not need to go through the compilation stage during which machine instructions are generated. This process can be time-consuming if the program is long.