Programming Language

Programming Language

TOPIC: Programming Language

Class: SSS One

Definition of Terms

Program: A computer program is a sequence of related instructions (commands) that tell the computer how to accomplish a specific task. A program can also be defined as a set of instructions that are executed by the CPU.
Programming: Programming is the act of writing computer program. Computer programs are written by trained and qualified people called programmers.
Computer language: Computer language is a language used by, or associated with the computer.
Programming Language: A computer programming language is an artificial language that can be used to control the behaviour of a machine, particularly a computer. Programming language is a means through which a programmer communicates with the computer in solving different categories of problems.
Syntax: Syntax are set of rules governing how the words in the language are written.
Semantics:Semantics are meanings associated with each word used in a particular language.
Markup languages like HTML are generally not regarded as programming languages, but they are computer languages. Programming language foster the communication of programs among programmers and computer; markup language communicate the formatting or structure of document between human and computer.

Levels of Programming Language


There are three levels of programming language
1. Machine Language
2. Low-Level Language (Assembly Language)
3. High-Level Language

Machine Language

This was the first generation programming language (GL1). A computer will only understand one language, which is machine language. There are two symbols in machine language; these are 1 and 0 generally called binary digits or bits.
Advantages
1. It is directly understood by the computer.
2. Programs written in machine language run very fast.
3. Program written in machine language needs less memory to run
Disadvantages
1. All operation codes have to be remembered
2. It is machine dependent
3. It is hard to amend or find errors in a program written in machine language.

Low Level Language

A low-Level programming Language is programming that provides little or no abstraction from a computer’s microprocessor. The word low does not imply that the language is inferior to high-level programming languages but rather refers to the small or nonexistent amount of abstraction between the language and machine: because of this, low-level languages are sometimes described as being “close to the hardware. An example of low-level language is assembly language, it was the second-generation programming language or 2GL. It was developed to overcome some of the many inconveniences of machine language. Assembly language is a mnemonic representation of machine language. It is one level above machine language. A program for translating low assembly language is called an assembler.
Advantages of Low Level Language
1. It is easier to understand and use as compared to machine language.
2. It is easy to locate and correct error as compared to machine language
3. A program written in assembly language executes faster than that of a high-level language.
Disadvantages of Low Level Language
1. Assembly language, like machine code, is also machine dependent
2. Difficult to remember the syntax.

High Level Language

These are programming languages that allow for programs to be written in forms that are readable to human beings. A high-level language is a programming language that, in comparison to low-level programming languages, maybe more abstract, easier to use, or more portable across platforms.
Examples of High-Level Language include
a. PASCAL
b. BASIC (Beginners All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code)
c. C ++
d. Java
e. FORTRAN (Formula Translation)
f. COBOL (Common Business Oriented Language)
g. PROLOG
h. ALGOL (Algorithmic language)
i. APL (A Programming Language)
j. RPG (Report Program Generator)
k. Python
Advantages of High Level Language
1. It is easier to learn and use
2. It user friendly
3. Programs in high-level language requires less time to write
4. It is easier to maintain
5. It is machine independent
6. It does not require the programmer to know the computer hardware architecture
Disadvantages of High Level Languages
1. It takes time to execute or run because it must first be translated into machine code by a translator before it can be executed.
2. Programmers need to remember a large set of syntax and semantics

Comparison of Machine Language, LLL and HLL

Language Characteristics
1. Machine Language 1. Machine dependent
2. Uses special code and the assignment of storage location
2. Low-Level Language (Assembly language) 1. Machine dependent<
2. Uses mnemonics(symbolic operation code) and operand (symbolic storage address)
3. 1 to 1 language
3. High Level Language 1. Machine independent
2. Uses instructions that seem English like
3. 1 to many languages, i.e. for one high-level instruction, many machine level statement may be generated

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