Programming language: Difference between revisions
imported>Eric M Gearhart (Edited out the List, moved to its own article) |
imported>Eric M Gearhart (Going to clean up terse wording next) |
||
| Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
A '''programming language''' is a way to represent in a reproducible way actions the programmer intends the computing system to perform. The program written in a programming language typically has to be translated into a code the central processing unit ([[CPU]]) can understand and execute. The programming language allows the programmer to define [[data structure]]s and combine them with logic applied to them. Generally a computer language reflects the state of development of the hardware and its processing power. | |||
A programming language is a way to represent in a reproducible way actions the programmer intends the computing system to perform. The program written in a programming language typically has to be translated into a code the central processing unit ([[CPU]]) can understand and execute. The programming language allows the programmer to define [[data structure]]s and combine them with logic applied to them. Generally a computer language reflects the state of development of the hardware and its processing power. | |||
Programming languages can generally be divided into two categories: | Programming languages can generally be divided into two categories: | ||
Revision as of 16:48, 7 April 2007
A programming language is a way to represent in a reproducible way actions the programmer intends the computing system to perform. The program written in a programming language typically has to be translated into a code the central processing unit (CPU) can understand and execute. The programming language allows the programmer to define data structures and combine them with logic applied to them. Generally a computer language reflects the state of development of the hardware and its processing power.
Programming languages can generally be divided into two categories:
Compiled languages must first be translated by a compiler from human readable source code to an object code. A linker is often applied to this code to assemble it with existing libraries and runtime environments into a form the computer can run.
Interpreted languages rely on an application, the interpreter, that translates the source code into machine code through pre-existing interfaces. For example, an interpreter would read a line such as this: PRINT "Cookies are yummy!" and call the predefined, platform independent function PRINT inside the interpreter itself where the interpreter then executes the platform dependent function call.