Language??

A Language is a medium by which we

can share and express views & feelings.
Like Hindi, English, Tamil, French etc.
It is a medium of communication.
A computer cannot understand any
commands that you may give in English
or in any other language. It has its own
set of instructions for communication.
The user of a computer must be able to
communicate with Computer. That means, he
must be able to give the computer commands
and understand the output that the computer
generates. This is possible due to the
invention of computer languages.
Computer is a machine and it understands
only binary language (0 and 1). To
understand these 0s and 1s, high level
languages were developed.
Binary language and low level language can
computer understand.
 Instruction- A piece of code. Ex.(c=a+b)

Program - It is a set of instructions given

to the computer to perform a task.

Programming – The Process of writing

the program in Computer Language is
called Programming. Languages like –
C,C++, Java, Machine, Assembly, Cobol,
Fortran, Python etc.
“Generations” of Computer Languages
First Generation
Machine language
Second Generation
Assembly language
Third Generation
“High-level” languages such as Pascal,
C, COBOL, Fortran
Fourth Generation
Very User friendly & High Performance
Machine Language (1st Gen.)
Machine Languages are the basic computer
instructions or better known as machine codes.
A computer cannot understand any instruction given
to it by the user in English or any other high level
language. These low level languages are very
easily understandable by the machine.
The main function of low level languages is
to interact with the hardware of the computer.
They help in operating and managing
all the hardware and system components
of the computer.

0 – OFF/ FALSE | 1 – ON/TRUE

Assembly Language (2nd Gen.)
This is the second generation
programming language. It is a
development on the machine language,
where instead of using only numbers,
we use English words, names, and
symbols. It is the most basic computer
language necessary for any processor.
It used symbolic codes.
 Language Translator.

Assembly Language Code = Source Code

Machine Language Code = Object Code

High Level Language (3rd Gen.)
These are the simple and User
Friendly programming languages.
Some prominent examples are JAVA,
FORTRAN, C++ etc.
The important feature is that they
allow the programmer to write
programs for all types of computers
systems. Every instruction in high
level language is converted to
machine language for the computer.
They required 2 Language
Translators (Interpreter & Compiler)
 Language Translator
Interpreter is a translator program that is
used to convert a high level language program
into machine language. It translates the code
line-by-line.
Compiler is a translator program that is used
to convert a high level language program into
machine language. It translates the whole
program at once and generates the object
code along with a list of errors.
Assembly language programs are converted
into machine language by the assembler.
 High-level languages are more powerful than
assembly language and allow the programmer to
work in a more English-like environment.
Third-generation languages (3GLs) are the first to use
true English-like phrasing, making them easier to use
than previous languages. 3GLs are portable, meaning the
object code created for one type of system can be
translated for use on a different type of system. The
following languages are 3GLs:FORTAN(Scientist work )
CCOBOL (Business Work), C++, BASIC, Java.

•
 Fourth Generation Language
Fourth-generation languages (4GLs)
are even easier to use than 3GLs. 4GLs
may use a text-based environment (like
a 3GL) or may allow the programmer to
work in a visual environment, using
graphical tools. The following
languages are 4GLs:Visual Basic
(VB)Visual Age

These high-level languages would use

artificial intelligence to create
software, making 4GLs extremely
difficult to develop. Solve problems
using constraints rather than
algorithms, used in Artificial
Intelligence Prolog.
 Review

Computer
Language

Machine Assembly High Level

4 GL
Language Language Language
Language
[1 GL] [2GL] [3 GL]

Lady Ada Lovelace - First Programmer