Difference between revisions of "High-level language"
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A programming language that uses English-like words and is easily understood by humans, but difficult for the computer to understand. The opposite is a [[low-level language]] that is easy for the computer to understand, but difficult for human programmers to understand. | A programming language that uses English-like words and is easily understood by humans, but difficult for the computer to understand. The opposite is a [[low-level language]] that is easy for the computer to understand, but difficult for human programmers to understand. | ||
| − | A [[compiler]] may be used in two different ways. A [[compiler]] may be used to convert high level language code into | + | A [[compiler]] may be used in two different ways. A [[compiler]] may be used to convert high level language code into bytecode, which is then interpreted by a software environment at run time and turned into machine code, which is then executed. A [[compiler]] may also be used to convert low level code into machine code, which is then executed. |
Examples of [[high-level]] languages that are commonly used today include [[Java]], [[C#]] and [[Visual Basic]]. | Examples of [[high-level]] languages that are commonly used today include [[Java]], [[C#]] and [[Visual Basic]]. | ||
Other high-level languages such as [[BASIC]], [[COBOL]], [[Pascal]] and [[Fortran]] do not closely resemble the C-like langauges, but programming them still involves [[The 3 Fundamental Concepts of Structured Programming]] - [[Sequence]], [[Selection]] and [[Iteration]]. A good [[Program Design]] should be able to be implemented in any of these languages. | Other high-level languages such as [[BASIC]], [[COBOL]], [[Pascal]] and [[Fortran]] do not closely resemble the C-like langauges, but programming them still involves [[The 3 Fundamental Concepts of Structured Programming]] - [[Sequence]], [[Selection]] and [[Iteration]]. A good [[Program Design]] should be able to be implemented in any of these languages. | ||
Latest revision as of 21:50, 17 August 2010
A programming language that uses English-like words and is easily understood by humans, but difficult for the computer to understand. The opposite is a low-level language that is easy for the computer to understand, but difficult for human programmers to understand.
A compiler may be used in two different ways. A compiler may be used to convert high level language code into bytecode, which is then interpreted by a software environment at run time and turned into machine code, which is then executed. A compiler may also be used to convert low level code into machine code, which is then executed.
Examples of high-level languages that are commonly used today include Java, C# and Visual Basic.
Other high-level languages such as BASIC, COBOL, Pascal and Fortran do not closely resemble the C-like langauges, but programming them still involves The 3 Fundamental Concepts of Structured Programming - Sequence, Selection and Iteration. A good Program Design should be able to be implemented in any of these languages.
