MeraForum Community.No 1 Pakistani Forum Community - What Is A Programming Language?

What Is A Programming Language?

In The Most Basic Terms, A "Programming Language" Is A Means Of Communication Between A Human Being (Programmer) And A Computer. A Programmer Uses This Means Of Communication In Order To Give The Computer Instructions. These Instructions Are Called "Programs".

Like The Many Languages We Use To Communicate With Each Other, There Are Many Languages That A Programmer Can Use To Communicate With A Computer. Each Language Has Its Own Set Of Words And Rules, Called Semantics. If You're Going To Write A Program, You Have To Follow The Semantics Of The Language You're Writing In, Or You Won't Be Understood.

Programming Languages Can Basically Be Divided In To Two Categories: Low-Level And High-Level.

Low-Level

The Lower Level In Computer "Languages" Are:

Machine Code (Also Called Binary) Is The Lowest Form Of A Low-Level Language. Machine Code Consists Of A String Of 0s And 1s, Which Combine To Form Meaningful Instructions That Computers Can Take Action On. If You Look At A Page Of Binary It Becomes Apparent Why Binary Is Never A Practical Choice For Writing Programs; What Kind Of Person Would Actually Be Able To Remember What A Bunch Of Strings Of 1 And 0 Mean?

Assembly Language (Also Called Asm), Is Just Above Machine Code On The Scale From Low Level To High Level. It Is A Human-Readable Translation Of The Machine Language Instructions The Computer Executes. For Example, Instead Of Referring To Processor Instructions By Their Binary Representation (0s And 1s), The Programmer Refers To Those Instructions Using A More Memorable (Mnemonic) Form. These Mnemonics Are Usually Short Collections Of Letters That Symbolize The Action Of The Respective Instruction, Such As "Add" For Addition, And "Mov" For Moving Values From One Place To Another.

You Do Not Have To Understand Assembly Language To Program In C++, But It Does Help To Have An Idea Of What's Going On "Behind-The-Scenes". Learning About Assembly Language Will Also Allow You To Have More Control As A Programmer And Help You In Debugging And Understanding Code.

The Advantages Of Writing In A High-Level Language Format Far Outweigh Any Drawbacks, Due To The Size And Complexity Of Most Programming Tasks, Those Advantages Include:

Advanced Program Structure: Loops, Functions, And Objects All Have Limited Usability In Low-Level Languages, As Their Existence Is Already Considered A "High" Level Feature; That Is, Each Structure Element Must Be Further Translated Into Low-Level Language.

Portability: High-Level Programs Can Run On Different Kinds Of Computers With Few Or No Modifications. Low-Level Programs Often Use Specialized Functions Available On Only Certain Processors, And Have To Be Rewritten To Run On Another Computer.

Ease Of Use: Many Tasks That Would Take Many Lines Of Code In Assembly Can Be Simplified To Several Function Calls From Libraries In High-Level Programming Languages. For Example, Java, A High-Level Programming Language, Is Capable Of Painting A Functional Window With About Five Lines Of Code, While The Equivalent Assembly Language Would Take At Least Four Times That Amount.

High-Level

High-Level Languages Do More With Less Code, Although There Is Sometimes A Loss In Performance And Less Freedom For The Programmer. They Also Attempt To Use English Language Words In A Form Which Can Be Read And Generally Interpreted By The Average Person With Little Experience In Them. A Program Written In One Of These Languages Is Sometimes Referred To As "Human-Readable Code". In General, More Abstraction Makes It Easier For A Language Be Learned.

No Programming Language Is Written In What One Might Call "Plain English" Though, (Although Basic And Cobol Come Close). Because Of This, The Text Of A Program Is Sometimes Referred To As "Code", Or More Specifically As "Source Code."
Higher-Level Languages Partially Solve The Problem Of Abstraction To The Hardware (Cpu, Co-Processors, Number Of Registers Etc...) By Providing Portability Of Code.
Keep In Mind That This Classification Scheme Is Evolving. C++ Is Still Considered A High-Level Language, But With The Appearance Of Newer Languages (Java, C#, Ruby Etc...), C++ Is Beginning To Be Grouped With Lower Level Languages Like C.