Programming Language

• Programming Language is a vocabulary and set of syntax for instructing a computer to perform
specific tasks.
• Programming Languages used to create computer programs.
 Generation of Programming Language
1st Generation of Programming Language

• 1GL refers to machine language.

• Machine language is low level language which uses machine code.
• Machine code is the combination of binary digits.
• These language directly talk to hardware.
• The machine instructions are one byte long. ( 00000000 used to stop instruction)
• It does not need any translation.
 Generation of Programming Language
2nd Generation of Programming Language

• 2GL is also low level language which is known as assembly language.

• It allows use of letters and symbols (called mnemonics) instead of numbers for representing
instruction and storage location. ( HLT use to stop the program)
• Assembly language programs are translated into machine language by a program called an
assembler.
• It takes longer to execute than a machine language program,
• It takes less time to develop programs as compared to machine language.
 Generation of Programming Language
3rd Generation of Programming Language

• 3GL are high level programming language. Example: C.

• High level language allow us to write computer code using instructions resembling everyday
spoken language.
• Programs written in a high level language are translated into machine language by a program
called compiler.
 Generation of Programming Language
4th Generation of Programming Language

• Fourth generation languages are close to natural language and were built with the concept that
certain applications could be generalized by adding limited programming ability to them.
Example: SQL, MatLab.
• These are used mainly in database programming and scripting

5th Generation of Programming Language

• A fifth-generation programming language (5GL) is a programming language based on problem

solving using constraints given to the program, rather than using an algorithm written by a
programmer. Example: Prolog, OPS5.
• Fifth-generation languages are used mainly in artificial intelligence research.
Differences between Machine, Assembly, High Level Languages

Feature Machine Assembly High Level

Form 0‘s and 1‘s Mnemonic codes Normal English
Machine Dependent Dependent Dependent Independent

Translator Not Needed Needed(Assembler) Needed(Compiler)

Execution Time Less Less High
Different
Languages Only one Different Languages
Manufactgurers
Nature Difficult Difficult Easy
Memory Space Less Less More