Programming Language

A programming language is a defined set of instructions that are used to make a computer perform a specific task.

Written using a defined vocabulary the programming language is either complied or interpreted by the computer into the machine language that is understood by the processor.

There are several types of programming languages, the most common are:

• High-level Languages - these are written using terms and vocabulary that can be understood and written in a similar manner to human language. They are called high-level languages because they remove many of the complexities involved in the raw machine language that computers understand. All high-level languages must be compiled at some stage into machine language. Examples of languages at this level include: Basic, C, C++, Cobol, Fortran, Java, and Pascal.
• Scripting Languages - like high-level languages scripting languages are written in manner similar to human language. Generally scripting languages are easier to write that high-level languages and are interpreted rather compiled into machine language. Some examples of scripting languages include VBScript, Javascript and Perl.
• Assembly Language - assembly language is as close as possible to writing directly in machine language. In past before high-level languages were available this was one of the only ways to program. Due to the low level nature of assembly language it is tied directly to the type of processor and a program written for one type of CPU generally will not run on another.