COMPUTER LANGUAGES

Introduction
• Human languages are known as natural languages.
◦ Unfortunately, computers can not understand natural languages (English, Gujarati, Spanish,..
etc),
◦ as a result we must communicate with computers using computer languages (programming
languages)

• Programming languages can be used to create programs that control the behavior
of a computer and serve any purpose
◦ A programming language is a set of rules that provides a way of telling a computer what
operations to perform.
Introduction
• English is a natural language. It has words, symbols and grammatical rules.
• A programming language also has words, symbols and rules of grammar.
• The grammatical rules are called syntax.
• Each programming language has a different set of syntax rules.
Levels of Programming Languages
Architecture
• Computer understand only binary
language (0 or 1) .
• Binary language also known as
machine or low level language

• All the instructions given in binary

form only – hard to understand by
people
• High-level language were
developed
Classification of Programming Languages
Programming
Language

Assembly High-level
Machine Language
Language Language

Low-level languages
Generations of Programming Languages
• Computer languages has the same history as the computers itself history,

• There are five generations of languages when programming method and techniques
could be developed as far as development in hardware occurred.
First Generation (1GL) – Machine Language
• First-generation language was machine language
◦ the level of instructions and data that the processor is actually given to work on binary numbers
0s and 1s.

• In the 1940s and 1950s, computers were programmed by scientists sitting before control
panels equipped with toggle switches so that they could input instructions as strings of
zeros and ones.
(1GL) – Machine Language
• Machine language Format
◦ Operation code – instruct computer what functions are to be performed (such as addition or
subtraction).
◦ Operands – instruct the computer where to find or store the data on which the desired
operation is to be performed
• Machine language is machine dependent as it is the only language the computer can
understand.
◦ Very efficient code but very difficult to write.
(1GL) – Machine Language
• Advantages:

1. Translation Free:
◦ computer can directly execute without the need for conversion

2. High Speed:
◦ Since no conversion is needed, applications developed using machine languages are extremely
fast
◦ Ex. Space control system, nuclear reactors and chemical processing
(1GL) – Machine Language
• Disadvantages:
1. Machine Dependent
◦ Based on computer architecture,
◦ application developed for one type of computer may not run on others
2. Complex Language
◦ Difficult to read and write
3. Error Prone
◦ Since programmer has to remember all the opcode and the memory locations, it is bound to be error
prone
4. Tedious
◦ Programming becomes too complex to modify
Second Generation (2GL) – Assembly Language
• By the late 1950s, this language had become popular.

• Known as Symbolic language

• Assembly language consists of letters of the alphabet.

◦ This makes programming much easier than trying to program a series of zeros and ones.

• An assembler converts the assembler language statements into machine language

Second Generation (2GL) – Assembly Language
• The general format of Assembly Language:

Label Opcode Operands Comment

BEGIN ADD A, B Add B; to A;

Second Generation (2GL) – Assembly Language

Machine Language
Program
Assembly Program
(Source Code) Assembler
Error Messages (if
any)
Second Generation (2GL) – Assembly Language
• Advantages:

• Easy to understand and Use

• Less Error Prone
• Efficiency
◦ Faster compare to high-level language programs
• More control on hardware
Second Generation (2GL) – Assembly Language
• Disadvantages:

• Machine Dependent
◦ Different computer have their own assembly languages
• Harder to learn
• Slow development time
• Less efficient
• No standardization
• No support for modern software engineering technology
Third Generation (3GL)-High-level Language
• Closer to English but included simple mathematical notation.
• Programmer do not need to know how computer works in detail.
• Programmer can write program by learning syntax of language.

• High level language must use interpreter, compiler or translator to convert human
understandable program to computer readable code (machine code).
Third Generation (3GL)-High-level Language
• Many high level languages have appeared since Fortran II the most widely used have
been:

COBOL Business applications

FORTRAN Engg & Scientific Applications
PASCAL General use and as a teaching tool
C & C++ General Purpose – currently most popular.
PROLOG Artificial Intelligence
JAVA General all purpose programming
Compiler
• Language translator: convert high-level language into machine language
• Compiler replaces single high-level statement with a series of machine language
instructions

Target Language Program

(Machine object code)
High-level Language
program (Source code) Compiler
Error Messages (if
any)
Compiler
• Program compilation: Compiler translates whole program into an equivalent machine
language program
• Once the program has been compiled, the resulting machine code (object code) saved
separately, which can be run on its own at any time
• Once the object code is generated, there is no need of actual source code
• If source code is modified – necessary to recompile the program

• For each high-level language, a separate compiler is required

Interpreter
• Language translator: convert high-level language into machine language
• Unlike compiler: it translates a statement of program and executes immediately, before
translating next statement

Results of the
Translates and expected statement
High-level Language
program (Source code) Executes Statement
by Statement
Error Messages (if
any)
Refer online resources to list out the difference between Compiler, Interpreter and Assembler.
Linker
• An application usually consists hundreds, thousands or even million of lines of code
• Code divided into logical groups and stored into different modules
◦ So debugging and maintenance becomes easy
◦ Each module can be modified and compiled independently

◦ Linker links several object modules and libraries to form a single program
Linker
Source file Compiler Object file

Executable
Source file Compiler Object file Linker
file

Source file Compiler Object file Program

Library
Loader
• Part of operating system that brings an executable file residing on the disk into the
memory and starts running
• Four basic tasks of loader:
1. Allocation: allocates memory space for programs
2. Linking: combines two or more separate object programs and supplies the information needed
to allow references between them
3. Relocation: prepares a program to execute properly from its storage area
4. Loading: place data and machine instructions into the memory
Loader
• Types of loader:
• Absolute Loader:
◦ Loads the file into memory at the location specified by the beginning portion (header) of file and
then passes control to program
◦ If memory space specified by header is currently in use, execution cannot be processed
◦ User must wait until requested memory becomes free
• Relocating loader:
◦ Loads the program in memory, altering the various addresses as required to ensure correct
referencing
Advantages of High-level Languages
• Readability
◦ Easy to read, write and maintain
• Machine independent
• Easy debugging
• Easier to maintain
• Low development cost
• Easy documentation
Disadvantages of High-level Languages
• Poor control on hardware
• Less efficient
◦ Process of translation increases the execution time of an application
Popular High-level Languages
• FORTRAN
• COBOL
• BASIC
• PASCAL
• C
• C++
• JAVA
• PROLOG
• LISP
Fourth Generation (4GL)
• 4GLs have simple, English-like rules, commonly used to access databases
• 4GLs are divided into three categories:

1. Query Languages: allow user to retrieve information from databases (ex. SQL)
2. Report Generators: produce customized reports using data stored into databse
3. Application Generators: the user writes programs to allow data to be entered into the database
Fourth Generation (4GL)
• Advantage:
◦ User can create an application in a much shorter time for development and debugging than with
other programming languages

• Disadvantage:
◦ Program need more disk space and large memory capacity compared to 3GL program
Fifth Generation Languages (5GL)
• Though no clear definition at present, natural language programs generally can be
interpreted and executed by the computer with no other action by the user than stating
their question.

• User will free from learning any programming language to communicate with computes

• Programmers may simply type the instruction or tell the computer via microphones what
is needs to do
• Limited capabilities at present.
Thank You.