Programming Languages

Low-level Languages
High-level Languages
Advantages & Disadvantages
Translators
Trends in Programming Languages

Introduction
program

a series of instructions make a

computer works
can be written in a variety of
programming languages
programming

lang. - later generations:

fewer instructions

 provide a more sophisticated

programmer/computer
interaction

4th
gen.

Fourth generation languages (4GLs)

Fourth
generation
languages
(4GLs)

Procedural languages

3rd
gen.
2nd
gen.

Multipurpose
Multipurpose
BASIC
(1965)
BASIC
(1965)
Pascal (1968)
Pascal (1968)

Business
Business
COBOL
(1959)
COBOL (1959)

Assembler
Assembler

1st
gen.

Machine
Machine

Scientific
Scientific (1955)
FORTRAN
FORTRAN (1955)

T
h
e
hi
er
a
rc
h
y
of
p
ro
g
r
a

mmi
ng
lang
uage
s

High-level languages are problem oriented

Low-level
languages
are
machine
oriented

More
sophistication
in programmer/
computer
interaction

Low-level Languages
Machine

language

a programming language that is interpreted

& executed directly by the computer
Assembly

language

a symbolic language with an instruction set

that is basically one-to-one with the machine 4
language

Machine language (ML)

each

computer can only understand

programs that are written in its own ML
is provided by the computer
manufacturer translation is needed when
executing
programs written in Pascal or BASIC
written at the most basic level of computer
operation
coded as a series of 0s and 1s, e.g., 10111010

 Disadvantages:

very difficult to write, because:

binary system - not user friendly to human
it requires excellent memorising power

programmer has to keep track of

storage locations of data & instruction

ASSEMBLY LANGUAGE

Assembly language
also

provided by the manufacturer

one instruction for each computer operation
instruction

codes are represented by

mnemonics (a set of letters)
the code must be assembled into machine
language for execution
assembly language

Assembly language
[refer to Fig 13.2]

 Disadvantages:

(similar to that of ML)

machine dependent
the program is usually long
hard to learn & slow to write

HIGH LEVEL LANGUAGES

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High-level Languages
made

programming much more convenient

written using common names & words
more like human languages
problem-oriented languages
designed to solve specific problems
e.g.,

FORTRAN, COBOL, BASIC, Pascal

& C language

[refer to Fig 13.4 - 13.8]

Advantages of
High-level Languages
easier

to write, to read & to modify

written in English-like format

programs

- faster & shorter to code

one statement for several computer operations

more

portable, i.e., can be executed by

different computers
machine independent

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Advantages of
Low-level Languages
take

up less storage space

run faster
useful

for writing system programs

e.g., operating systems (require fast & efficient

use of CPU)
sometimes

an operation can only be

performed in a low-level language

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Translators
programs

must be translated into machine

codes before execution

Source
program Translator ObjectObject
program Execution
Source
Translator
program
program
A simplified translation process
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Translators - 3 types
Source program

Translator
Translator

assembly
language
programs

assembler
assembler
compiler
compiler

Object program
Object program

machine
codes

Source program
interpreter
assembly language programs
interpreter
high-level
language
programs

machine codes
Execution

Translators - 3 types

The functions of the three types of translators

high-level language programs

Execution

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Similarities between
compilers & interpreters
both

translate high-level languages to

machine codes

both

direct errors in the programs & print

error messages

both

work out where to store the object

program & its data in the memory

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Differences between
compilers & interpreters
Translation of
source program
Freqrency of
translation

Compilers

Interpreters

the whole program

before execution
each line is translated
once

one line at a time

when it is run
has to be translated
every time it is
executed - slower
no object program is
generated, so, source
program must be
present for execution

Object program can be saved for

future exeution
without the source
program

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Trends in
Programming Languages
fewer

instructions
more user-friendly
towards

using 4GLs

non-procedural language
users only have to state what needs doing,
but not how to do it
designed for users with minimal
programming knowledge & training

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 Logic

Prolog)

programming (e.g.,

5th-generation computer language

declarative language
expert systems & artificial intelligence app.
Object-oriented

techniques

e.g., Borland C++

Visual

development environments

e.g., Microsoft Visual Basic

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