What is a Program?
A computer is a device that follows the instructions given to it. A well-defined set of instructions given to the computer is called a computer program, A computer program is written in a programming language. A person who develops a program is called a Programmer.
Programming Language:
A set of words and symbols used to write programs is called programming language. Programming languages are used to write computer programs. A programming language is a means of communication between a user and a computer.
Programming language is a system of notation for writing computer programs.[1] Most programming languages are text-based formal languages, but they may also be graphical. They are a kind of computer language.
The description of a programming language is usually split into the two components of syntax (form) and semantics (meaning), which are usually defined by a formal language. Some languages are defined by a specification document (for example, the C programming language is specified by an ISO Standard) while other languages (such as Perl) have a dominant implementation that is treated as a reference. Some languages have both, with the basic language defined by a standard and extensions taken from the dominant implementation being common.
Programming language theory is the subfield of computer science that studies the design, implementation, analysis, characterization, and classification of programming languages.
Types of Programming languages:
There are two types of computer programming languages:
- Low-level languages
- High-level languages
Low-Level Languages:
Low-lever languages are near to computer hardware and far from human languages.
The low–level languages are divided into the following two main categories:
- Machine Languages
- Assembly language
Machine Language
A type of language in which instructions are written in binary form is called machine language. It is the only language that is directly understood by the computer. It is the native language of the computer.
A program written in machine language can be executed very fast by a computer. The computer does not need a translator to understand this language. The programs written in machine language are machine-dependent. Every computer has its own machine language.
Machine language is difficult to understand and learn. The process of writing and modifying programs in machine language takes a lot of time.
Assembly Language
Programs written in assembly language are easier to write and modify than in machine language. Assembly language is mostly used for writing system software. The programs written in assembly language cannot be executed by the computer directly. A translator called an assembler is used to convert assembly language programs into machine language.
HIGH-LEVEL LANGUAGES
A type of language that is close to human languages is called high-level language. The instruction in these languages is similar to the English language such as input and print etc.
A set of rules for writing programs in a high-level language is known as syntax.
Each language has its own syntax. The instructions must be written according to the syntax of the language. Any error in the program is identified by the language translator. A Program cannot be converted into machine language f it contains any syntax error.
Some examples of high-level languages are as follows:
C/C++:
It is used to write system software and application software
Java:
It is a popular programming language and provided strong features for network programming.
Pascal
It is used for both scientific and business applications.
There are many more languages like Python, PHP, and C #, etc,
One of the best Programming languages is: C#