Everything about Computer Language totally explained
The term
computer language includes a large variety of languages used to communicate with computers. It is broader than the more commonly-used term
programming language. Programming languages are a subset of computer languages. For example,
HTML is a
markup language and a computer language, but it isn't traditionally considered a programming language.
Machine code is a computer language. It can technically be used for programming, and has been (for example the original bootstrapper for
Altair BASIC), though most wouldn't consider it a programming language.
Characteristics of Computer Language
Computer languages can be divided into two groups: high-level languages and low-level languages. High-level languages are designed to be easier to use, more abstract, and more portable than low-level languages. Syntactically correct programs in some languages are then compiled to low-level language and executed by the computer. Most modern software is written in a high-level language, compiled into
object code, and then translated into machine instructions.
Computer languages could also be grouped based on other criteria. Another distinction could be made between human-readable and non-human-readable languages. Human-readable languages are designed to be used directly by humans to communicate with the computer. Non-human-readable languages, though they can often be partially understandable, are designed to be more compact and easily processed, sacrificing readability to meet these ends.
Types of Computer Language
Programming languages are the primary means by which developers of computing systems instruct a machine to organize or manipulate information or control physical devices. Most
software is written using one or more
programming languages. Common examples include
C++,
Java,
BASIC, and
assembly languages, but this is by no means an
exhaustive list. Programming languages can be grouped by "generation", see also
Fourth-generation programming language ("4GL")
Scripting languages are a type of programming language designed to control other
software or to coordinate the actions of multiple
software applications. They are usually distinguished from "full" programming languages in that they're dependent on another application, are more accessible to users, include fewer features, and are not
compiled but run via an
interpreter. In practice, some languages originally conceived for scripting (
PHP) have grown to be become "full" programming languages and some "full" programming languages have been adapted for embedding into applications (
Java). Common examples include
Perl and
javaScript. (
scripting language list)
Most programming language are based on a programmer writing
source code to instruct the computer, but
Visual programming languages are designed to have the programmer manipulate visual representations of program elements.
All instructions to a computer are ultimately expressed in
machine code, a non human-readable
binary computer language which corresponds to the available instructions for a
microprocessor. Source code is converted to machine code by a
compiler, sometimes
on the fly). Some programming languages use an intermediate computer language called
bytecode which is designed to make software more portable across different
computer architectures. Such systems use a
virtual machine to convert
bytecode to
machine code when a program is run.
Java is a well-known example.
Languages for representing information
Languages for describing software behavior
Configuration file formats (for example, INI file)
Languages for designing systems
Specification languages
Hardware description languages
History of computing languages
Further Information
Get more info on 'Computer Language'.
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