On the 16th day of the A2Z Challenge 2019, I shall talk about the A2Z of Programming Languages. Don’t Worry… I won’t discuss coding. I will just talk about the programming languages, also called computer languages. So, what is a computer language?  It’s a language that consists of a set of rules for instructing a computer to perform a specific task. The process of writing such instructions is called programming or coding. A computer understands only 0s and 1s. Each and every character is broken down into a combination of 0s and 1s.

A2Z of Programming Languages: Types of Language

In this section of the post, I shall talk about the types of programming languages.

Low-Level Language

• Machine Language: In Machine Level Language programming, instructions are written using Binary Language (a combination of 0s and 1s). This is also known as First Generation Language (1GL).
• Assembly Language: Assembly Language programs are translated into Machine Level Language with the help of a special program called Assembler. This is also known as Second Generation Language (2GL).

High-Level Language

• Third Generation Language (3GL): This type of language is very user-friendly because it is written with the help of English alphabets and numbers. They are easy to understand. High-Level Language programs are translated into Low-Level Language with the help of a special program called Compiler. Ex: BASIC, COBOL, PASCAL, C, C++, C#, JAVA etc.
• Fourth Generation Language (4GL): 4GL is an upgraded version of 3GL. It is a step closer towards the human language. They are non-procedural i.e, they allow the programmer or the user to specify what the computer is supposed to do without specifying the method. Ex: SQL.
• Fifth Generation Language (5GL): These languages are even closer to human languages. They are used to make a machine ‘smarter’. These languages are widely used in the area of artificial intelligence.

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