Abu Zar Mishwani
Programming languages are powerful tools for creating, innovating, and solving complex problems. They are the building blocks of the digital age, enabling us to create everything from the most basic websites to the most sophisticated software.
Using these languages, we can create and manipulate data, build applications, develop new technologies, and even create entire virtual worlds.
Programming languages are the building blocks that make all these feats possible, yet they remain a mystery to many.
In this article, we will look closely at programming, how programming languages work, what they can do, and why they are so important in the modern world.
What is a Language?
A language is a communication system that allows people to share ideas, feelings, and experiences. It can be expressed through spoken words, written words, or a combination of both.
In simple terms, you can communicate with people because of the language that both communicators understand. Without language, you cannot communicate with the people around you.
In the same way, to communicate with computers, we need a language.
What Language Does a Computer Understand?
Computers understand a language called machine language, which is made up of binary code or a series of zeros (0s) and ones (1s). This code is the language that the computer understands, and it’s the language that programmers used to write programs and software in the early times.
Because computers are much more logical than humans, they can understand and interpret machine code more quickly and accurately than a natural language like English. Natural languages are full of nuances, figures of speech, and other subtle complexities that computers can’t interpret. Computers are great at following instructions but not so great at understanding the nuances of human language.
What is a Programming Language?
A programming language is a type of language designed by a programmer or developer to communicate instructions to a computer.
It allows programmers to create instructions to control the behavior of a machine or to express algorithms. Examples of programming languages include Java, JavaScript, C++, Python, and Ruby.
For example, a programmer might use the Java programming language to write a program that calculates the area of a circle.
This program would use the formula for finding the area of a circle, written in Java code, to calculate the area of the circle when given its radius as an input.
The program would then output the area of the circle, which would be printed to the console or displayed in a graphical interface.
How Does Programming Langauge Work?
Programming languages are sets of instructions that allow programmers to create and control software applications. These instructions are written in a language that a computer can understand.
Each programming language has its own syntax and rules, which must be followed for the code to be interpreted correctly. The syntax can range from basic commands to more complex structures, and the rules help ensure that the code is written in a way that is efficient and easy to understand.
Once the code has been written, it needs to be compiled. Compiling is the process of converting the code into a language that the computer can understand. This is done by a compiler, which translates the code into machine language and stores it in memory.
It’s an important step because, as mentioned earlier, computers only understand binary code (i.e., 0s and 1s). If instructions are written in any other language, they must be translated to binary for the computer to understand them. We will explain this in more detail later in this article.
Finally, the program is executed. The processor takes the compiled code and executes it, following the instructions written in it. This allows the computer to follow the commands and perform specified tasks.
Types of Programming Language?
There are various types of programming languages, each with its own set of features and advantages.
Generally, programming languages can be divided into two main categories: low-level and high-level.
Low-Level Programming Languages
Low-level programming languages are computer languages that allow a programmer to write instructions that are close to the native language of the computer hardware. These instructions are called machine language instructions or machine codes.
At the lowest level, all instructions are written in binary form, with 0s and 1s. But it’s difficult for humans to read and write instructions in binary.
There are two types of low-level programming languages:
Binary Language
Binary language is the language of computers. It is a language that is composed of only two possible values: 0 and 1.
Binary language is also known as machine language or the language of computers because all computer hardware and software are based on this language.
Computers use binary code to store and process data, which is the only language they can understand.
In a binary language, each letter, number, or other character is represented by a unique combination of 0s and 1s.
For example, the letter “A” might be represented by 01000001, and the number “7” might be represented by 00110111.
Assembly Language
Assembly language is a low-level programming language used to communicate directly with the hardware of a computer. It is a machine language specific to a particular hardware architecture and is used to create executable programs for those processors.
Unlike high-level languages, assembly language requires the programmer to understand the underlying architecture of the processor and its instruction set.
Assembly language consists of a set of instructions, each represented by a mnemonic code associated with a specific hardware operation.
Assembly language instructions are typically written in hexadecimal or binary but can also be written in ASCII characters.
Below is an example of Assembly language code:
MOV AL, 0xA ; Move the hexadecimal value 0xA into the AL register ADD AL, 0x20 ; Add the hexadecimal value 0x20 to the AL register MOV AH, 0x0 ; Move the hexadecimal value 0x0 into the AH register INT 0x10 ; Generate an interrupt 10h, which invokes BIOS video services RET ; Return from procedure
Low-level programming languages are still used today, primarily for embedded systems and device drivers. They are more efficient than higher-level languages but also more difficult to read and write.
Low-level Programming Languages are Close To Hardware!
YES! Low-level programming languages are very close to hardware because they are written directly in machine code, the native language of the computer. This means they can access the computer’s resources directly and make changes to the system precisely.
Low-level languages are difficult to understand and write for humans because they are written in binary, a language of zeros and ones, and not in a more human-readable format like a high-level language such as C++.
For example, in C++, to add two numbers together, you could simply write int a = 5 + 3; and the computer would know to add the two numbers together.
In a low-level language like binary, you would have to break down the instructions into a series of instructions, such as:
10000010 (Instruction to define an integer variable) 00000101 (Binary representation of 5) 00000011 (Binary representation of 3) 10000100 (Instruction to perform addition) 10000001 (Instruction to store the result in the variable 'a')
As you can see, writing code in low-level languages is much more difficult than in high-level languages like C++.
Low-level languages require much more detailed instructions, making them more difficult to understand, write, and debug.
High-Level Programming Languages
High-Level Programming Languages are languages designed to be more user-friendly and easier to read and understand than traditional low-level languages.
Examples of high-level programming languages include C++, Python, C#, and Java.
For example, Java is a high-level programming language used to create various applications, from web-based to mobile applications. Java is a universal language and is used for a wide range of tasks.
In Java, data is represented in objects and classes, which makes it easier for developers to think about and work with data.
Below is an example of high-level programming language code:
// This program prints the string "Hello, World!"
public class HelloWorld {
public static void main(String[] args) {
System.out.println("Hello, World!");
}
}
High-level programming languages are a great choice for programmers who want to create programs that are easy to read and understand quickly.
They are also a great choice for those new to programming and looking for a language that is easy to learn and use.
High-level Programming Languages are Close To Humans!
High-level programming languages are close to humans because they are designed to be more easily understood, written, and debugged by humans, as high-level languages are written in human-like languages such as English.
They are also designed to be more abstract, allowing programmers to focus on the logic of the program rather than the details of the underlying hardware.
For example, in a high-level language like Python, a simple program to print “Hello, World” would look like this:
print("Hello, World!")
This one line of code is all that’s required to print the message.
Compare this to a low-level language like Assembly, where a program to print Hello, World! would look something like this:
.data message db 'Hello, World!', 0 .text .globl _start _start: # write "Hello, World!" to standard output movl $4, %eax # system call number (sys_write) movl $1, %ebx # file descriptor (stdout) movl $message, %ecx # pointer to the message movl $13, %edx # length of the message int $0x80 # invoke system call # exit program movl $1, %eax # system call number (sys_exit) xorl %ebx, %ebx # exit status (0) int $0x80 # invoke system call # This code is written in AT&T syntax and is meant to be assembled and linked on a Linux x86 architecture. # The exact code may vary depending on the system and operating system being used.
As you can see, the Assembly code for printing Hello, World! is significantly more complex and requires several lines of code to accomplish the same task.
Assembly code is often more difficult to write and understand as it is closer to the underlying machine language and requires a deeper understanding of computer architecture.
So, I hope you’ve understood why high-level languages are close to humans, and low-level are close to the hardware.
Now, the question is:
Does Computer Understand High-Level Programming Language?
NO! computer does not understand high-level programming language directly.
High-level programming language is a language that is designed to be closer to human language and is written in an English-like syntax.
Computers only understand machine language, composed of binary digits (0s and 1s).
To understand a high-level language, computers must use a language processor.
A language processor is a program that translates high-level language into machine language. The language processor will convert the code from the high-level language into a form that the computer can understand and execute.
The language processor is responsible for understanding the high-level language, interpreting the instructions, and generating the machine language instructions for execution.
For more information, please refer to our detailed guide on Language Processor.
Popular Programming Languages
The followings are the seven most popular programming languages and their primary uses:
1. JavaScript: JavaScript is a high-level, interpreted programming language that is used in many web applications. It is used to create interactive effects within web browsers, develop web and mobile applications, and create server-side applications.
2. Python: Python is a high-level, general-purpose programming language. It is used for developing software applications, web applications, and data science applications. It is also used for scripting, automation, and artificial intelligence projects.
3. Java: Java is a high-level, object-oriented programming language used to develop enterprise-level applications. It is also used for developing web and mobile applications, embedded systems, and large-scale distributed systems.
4. C++: C++ is a general-purpose, object-oriented programming language. It is used for developing system software, application software, embedded systems, and games.
5. C#: C# is a modern, object-oriented programming language. It is used to develop desktop, web, and mobile applications.
6. PHP: PHP is a scripting language used to develop dynamic web applications. It is used to create websites, web services, applications, and portals.
7. Ruby: Ruby is a high-level, object-oriented programming language. It is used to develop web applications, web services, and portals. It is also used for creating artificial intelligence projects, scripting, and automation.
History of Programming Language
To learn about the history, please visit our detailed timeline of the history of programming languages.