Programs

Programs are written in programming languages

PL = programming language
Pieces of the same program can be written in different
PLs
 Languages closer to the machine can be more efficient
 As long as they agree on how to communicate

A PL is
A special purpose and limited language
A set of rules and symbols used to construct a computer
program
A language used to interact with the computer

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Programming Languages
Programming languages allow programmers to code
software.
The three major families of languages are:
Machine languages
Assembly languages
High-Level languages

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Computer Languages
– Machine Language
• Uses binary code
• Machine-dependent
• Not portable
Assembly Language
Uses mnemonics
Machine-dependent
Not usually portable
High-Level Language (HLL)
Uses English-like language
Machine independent
Portable (but must be compiled for different platforms)
Examples: Pascal, C, C++, Java, Fortran, . . .

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Machine

Language
The representation of a computer program which is
actually read and understood by the computer.
 A program in machine code consists of a sequence of machine
instructions.
Instructions:
 Machine instructions are in binary code
 Instructions specify operations and memory cells involved in the
operation
Example: Operation Address

0010 0000 0000 0100

0100 0000 0000 0101

0011 0000 0000 0110

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Assembly Language
A symbolic representation of the machine language of a
specific processor.
Is converted to machine code by an assembler.
Usually, each line of assembly code produces one machine
instruction (One-to-one correspondence).
Programming in assembly language is slow and error-
prone but is more efficient in terms of hardware
performance.
Mnemonic representation of the instructions and data
Example:
Load Price
Add Tax
Store Cost

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High-level language
A programming language which use statements consisting
of English-like keywords such as "FOR", "PRINT" or “IF“, ...
etc.
Each statement corresponds to several machine language
instructions (one-to-many correspondence).
Much easier to program than in assembly language.
Data are referenced using descriptive names
Operations can be described using familiar symbols
Example:
Cost := Price + Tax

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Procedural Languages
Early high-level languages are typically called
procedural languages.
Procedural languages are characterized by sequential
sets of linear commands. The focus of such languages
is on structure.
Examples include C, COBOL, Fortran, LISP, Perl,
HTML, VBScript

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Structured Programming
A method for designing and coding programs in a
systematic, organized manner.
It combines the principles of top-down design,
modularity and the use of the three accepted control
structures of sequence, repetition and selection.

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Syntax & Semantics
Syntax:
The structure of strings in some language. A language's
syntax is described by a grammar.
Examples:
 Binary number
<binary_number> = <bit> | <bit> <binary_number>
<bit> =0|1
 Identifier
<identifier> = <letter> {<letter> | <digit> }
<letter> =a|b|...|z
<digit =0|1|...|9
Semantics:
The meaning of the language

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Syntax & Grammars
Syntax descriptions for a PL are themselves written in
a formal language.
E.g. Backus-Naur Form (BNF)
The formal language is not a PL but it can be
implemented by a compiler to enforce grammar
restrictions.
Some PLs look more like grammar descriptions than
like instructions.

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Compilers & Programs
Compiler

A program that converts another program from some

source language (or high-level programming language /

HLL) to machine language (object code).
Some compilers output assembly language which is then

converted to machine language by a separate assembler.

Is distinguished from an assembler by the fact that each

input statement, in general, correspond to more than one

machine instruction.

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Compilation into Assembly L
Source Assembly
Program Compiler Language

Assembly Assembler Machine

Language Language

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Compilers & Programs
Source program

The form in which a computer program, written in

some formal programming language, is written by

the programmer.
Can be compiled automatically into object code or

machine code or executed by an interpreter.

Pascal source programs have extension ‘.pas’

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Compilers & Programs
Object program
Output from the compiler
Equivalent machine language translation of the source
program
Files usually have extension ‘.obj’

Executable program
Output from linker/loader
Machine language program linked with necessary libraries &
other files
Files usually have extension ‘.exe’

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Program Errors
Syntax Errors:
Errors in grammar of the language
Runtime error:
When there are no syntax errors, but the program can’t
complete execution
 Divide by zero
 Invalid input data

Logical errors:
The program completes execution, but delivers
incorrect results
Incorrect usage of parentheses

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 Compilation
Source Target
Program Compiler Program

Input Target Program Output

Compiler translates source into target (a machine

language program)
Compiler goes away at execution time
Compiler is itself a machine language program,
presumably created by compiling some other high-level
program
Machine language, when written in a format understood
by the OS is object code
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Interpretation
Source
Program

Interpreter Output

Input

• The interpreter stays around during execution

• It reads and executes statements one at a time

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• Translates instructions to machine code line-by-line or
statement by statement.
• It executes statement before translating the next statement
of the source program
• If there is an error in the statement , the interpreter stops
working and displays an errors message.
• The disadvantage of interpreter is that it is not very efficient
• The interpreter does not produce an object code .it must
convert the program each time it is executed .
• Visual Basic uses interpreter.

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Compilation vs. Interpretation
Compilation:
Syntax errors caught before running the program
Better performance
Decisions made once, at compile time
Interpretation:
Better diagnostics (error messages)
More flexibility
Supports late binding (delaying decisions about
program implementation until runtime)
 Can better cope with PLs where type and size of variables
depend on input

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