High-level language

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 byte code, 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.