High-level and Low-level Languages - Essay Example

?High Level Languages and Low Level Languages By Introduction A language is a source that can be used for communication between two persons. In the same way, computer-programming language is used to communicate between user and computer. By using any programming language, the instructions are provided to the computer to carry out a specific operation. In addition, these instructions are provided to the computer in accordance with the rules of that particular programming language (Norton, 2001; Shelly et al., 2005). This paper presents an overview of the programming language. This paper will also discuss the types of programming language along with their advantages and disadvantages. Computer Programming Language: An Overview The basic purpose of computer programming language is to allow the user to prepare computer programs also known as software. Though, in the past only the machine language (i.e. in binary code) was used to write the programs. However, it was very difficult to prepare a program in machine code. On the other hand, at the present there are numerous programming languages available for writing different types of programs. However, each programming language has its own rules for witting the programs. For instance, FORTRAN (Formula Translator) language is used for scientific purposes; COBOL is used for preparing business solutions, ADA programming language is used for building defense applications etc. In addition, programming languages are divided into two categories: (Webopedia, 2012; Bolton, 2012; Ferguson, 2002; Norton, 2001; Shelly et al., 2005; ninjacraze, 2012) i) Low-level languages ii) High-level languages Low-level Languages The programming languages that are very similar to machine code (such as 0s and 1s) are acknowledged as low-level programming languages. Basically, in these languages the program instructions are written in binary form. In addition, low-level programming languages offer the programmer a high level control over hardware however they require a deep knowledge of the internal structure of the hardware to be used. These programming languages are not normally used by the programmers because it is very difficult to learn and understand them. High-level Languages The programming languages that are very similar to the human languages (e.g. like English language) are acknowledged as the high-level languages. The examples of high-level languages are FORTRAN, COBOL, BASIC, PASCAL, C++ etc. These languages are similar to the English language. In other words, it is relatively easy to understand the code written in high level programming languages. In these languages, program instructions are written using English words, for instance print, input, square etc. However, each high-level programming language has its own rules or grammar for writing program instructions. These rules are called syntax of the language. In addition, the program written in high-level language must be translated to machine code before they are executed on the computer. For this purpose, each high-level language has its own translator program, which converts the code of that source language into the computer understandable form. Advantages of High-Level Languages There are many advantages of high-level programming languages. Some of the most important advantages are outlined below: (ninja craze, 2012; Lee, 2000) Easy to Learn In view of the fact that the high level programming languages are similar to human languages thus they are very easy to learn as compared to low-level languages. The instructions written for the program are similar to English like statements. Easy to understand The program written in high-level language by one programmer can easily be understood by another programmer or person because the program instructions are similar to the English language statements. In this way, if a software application has been developed using a high level programming language can be modified by another programmer later on. Easy to write programs In a high-level language, a new program can easily be written in a very short time. In fact, the larger and complex software applications can be built in a few days or months. Easy to detect and remove errors An error is a mistake that is made by the programmer while writing a program. The errors in a program can be easily detected and removed. Mostly the errors occur during the compilation of the program. Built-in library functions Each high-level programming language offers a wide variety of integrated routines (functions or procedures) that can be used by the programmers to carry out definite tasks while writing new programs. In this way, programmers can save a lot of time. Machine independence A program written in high-level language is machine independent. In other words, a program written on one computer (or laptop) can be executed on another type of computer. Difference between Low-Level and High-Level Languages The table given below outlines the main differences between low-level and high-level programming languages: (Norton, 2001; Shelly et al., 2005; GeekInterview, 2012) Low-level Languages High-level Languages 1. It is close to machine language (similar to 0 and 1) 1. It is close to human language (similar to the English language) 2. It is difficult to learn and use 2. It is easy to learn and use 3. It is machine dependent 3. It is not machine dependent 4. It does not provide built-in functions 4. It provides a large number of built-in functions 5. A program written in low-level language is faster in execution 5. A program written in high-level language is slower in execution 6. Deep knowledge of hardware is required to learn and use low-level language 6. No Deep knowledge of hardware is required to learn and use high-level language 7. There are a few programmers that can write programs in low-level language 7. There are many programmers that can write programs in high-level language 8. It is difficult to trace out errors in the programs written in low-level language 8. It is easy to trace out errors in the programs written in high-level language 9. Low-level languages are not commonly used 9. High-level languages are commonly used 10. The program statement written in low-level language is very lengthy 10. The program statement written in high-level language is very short An Overview of Flowcharts A flowchart is used to represent an algorithm in graphical form. In addition, they are commonly used in business presentation to make point clear. Additionally, flowchart uses a variety of graphical symbols to represent different operations (like processing, storage, input, output etc.). All symbols are connected through lines to point out the flow of information and processing. In short, flowchart is a illustration, mainly through the use of symbols, of the series of operations in a program or code (process, operation, function, or activity) (CyberCiti, 2012). References Bolton, D., 2012. What is a Programming Language? [Online] Available at: http://cplus.about.com/od/introductiontoprogramming/p/programming.htm [Accessed 22 March 2012]. CyberCiti, 2012. What is a Flowchart. [Online] Available at: http://www.cyberciti.biz/howto/cookbook/2006/02/what-is-flowchart.php [Accessed 20 March 2012]. Ferguson, A.D., 2002. A History of Computer Programming Languages. [Online] Available at: http://www.cs.brown.edu/~adf/programming_languages.html [Accessed 22 March 2012]. GeekInterview, 2012. Question: 21 of 38Low level language and high level language. [Online] Available at: http://www.geekinterview.com/question_details/57208 [Accessed 24 March 2012]. Lee, J., 2000. High Level Language Programming. [Online] Available at: http://courses.cs.vt.edu/~cs1104/HLL/HLL_15_0.htm [Accessed 22 March 2012]. ninjacraze, 2012. Types of Computer Languages with their Advantages and Disadvantages. [Online] Available at: http://ninjacraze.hubpages.com/hub/Types-of-Computer-Languages-with-Advantages-and-Disadvantages [Accessed 22 March 2012]. Norton, P., 2001. Introduction to Computers, Fourth Edition. Singapore: McGraw-Hill. Shelly, Cashman & Vermaat, 2005. Discovering Computers 2005. Boston: Thomson Course Technology. Webopedia, 2012. programming language. [Online] Available at: http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/P/programming_language.html [Accessed 23 March 2012]. Read More