What is program and programming language? - Main types of Programming Languages

 

Program

A computer is a device that follows the instructions given to it. A well-defined set of instructions given to the computer to solve a particular problem is called a program. A computer program is written in a programming language. A person who develops / writes a computer program is called a Programmer.

 

Programming Language

A set of words and symbols used to write a program is called a Programming Language. The programming languages are used to write computer programs. A programming language is a means of communication between a user and a computer.

Types of Programming Languages 

There are two types of computer programming languages.

Low-Level Programming Language
High-Level Programming Language 

1- Low-Level Languages

Low-level languages are near to computer hardware and far from human languages. The low-level languages are divided into two main categories.

Machine Language
Assembly Language

Machine Language

A type of language in which instructions are written in the form of 0s and 1s (Binary) is called a Machine Language.

It is the only language that is directly understandable by a computer. It is the native language of the computer. A program written in machine language can be executed very fast by a computer. The computer does not need any translator to understand this language. The programs written in machine language are machine-dependant. Every computer has its own machine language.

Machine language is difficult to understand and learn. The process of writing, editing, and modifying a machine program takes a lot of time and effort.

Assembly Language

Assembly language is a low-level language. It is one step higher than machine language. In assembly language, machine instructions are replaced with English-like words known as mnemonics. It is pronounced as Ne-Monics.

Programs written in assembly language are easy to write and modify than machine language. Assembly language is mostly used for writing system software. The programs written in assembly language cannot be executed by the computer directly. A translator called an assembler is used to convert assembly language programs into machine language.

High-Level Languages

A type of language that is close to human language and far from machine language is called High-level Language. 

The instructions in these languages are similar to English language such as input and print etc. These languages are easy to understand by a human. Each language has its own syntax. The instructions must be written according to the syntax of that language. Any error in the program is identified by the language translator. A program cannot be converted into machine language if it contains any syntax error.

A set of rules for writing programs in a high-level language is called Syntax.

Examples of High-Level Languages 

C / C++ 

It is used to write system software and application software.

Java

It is a popular programming language and provides strong features for network programming. 

Pascal

It is used for both scientific and business applications.

FORTRAN

It stands for Formula Translation. It has very powerful mathematical capabilities.

BASIC

It stands for Basic All-Purpose Symbolic Instruction Code. It was used mainly by students to use the computer to solve different problems. 

COBOL

It stands for Common Business Oriented Language. It is used to write business applications.