Levels of Programming Language: - SS1 ICT Lesson Note
Programming languages are categorized into different levels based on their abstraction from the hardware and their proximity to machine code. The three main levels of programming languages are low-level languages, assembly languages, and high-level languages.
Low-Level Languages:
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- Description: Low-level languages are programming languages that are closely related to the hardware architecture of a computer. They provide a minimal level of abstraction and are often used to write code that directly interacts with the computer's hardware components.
- Types:
- Machine Language: The lowest-level programming language consisting of binary instructions that the computer's CPU can directly execute. It uses numerical codes to represent specific operations and memory addresses.
- Assembly Language: A slightly higher-level language that uses mnemonics to represent machine instructions. Assembly language is specific to a particular computer architecture and requires an assembler to convert it into machine code.
High-Level Languages:
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- Description: High-level languages are programming languages that offer a higher level of abstraction from the hardware. They are designed to be more human-readable and provide built-in functions and data structures for simplifying programming tasks.
- Features:
- Abstraction: High-level languages abstract complex operations, making it easier for programmers to focus on the logic of their programs rather than the details of hardware.
- Portability: Code written in high-level languages is often portable across different platforms with minimal modifications.
- Productivity: High-level languages provide libraries, frameworks, and tools that speed up the development process and allow programmers to express ideas more concisely.
The relationship between these levels can be visualized as a hierarchy:
High-Level Languages
↓
Assembly Languages
↓
Low-Level Languages (Machine Language)
↓
Hardware (CPU, Memory, etc.)
In this hierarchy, high-level languages offer the highest level of abstraction and are the most user-friendly, while low-level languages are closer to the hardware and require a deeper understanding of computer architecture. Assembly languages bridge the gap between high-level languages and machine code by using mnemonic instructions that are translated into machine code by an assembler.
Programmers typically use high-level languages for most software development due to their productivity and ease of use. Low-level languages and assembly languages are reserved for situations where fine control over hardware or performance optimization is required.