What is one difference between low- and high-level programming languages?
Are you having trouble distinguishing the difference between high level and low level programming languages? There’s a good reason for that. Show
Most people talk about high level and low level programming languages as if they are characteristics of languages themselves. However, that is not the case. Low level and high level languages exist on a scale, not as a definitive characteristic of a language. That’s why some people may call C a low level language and others call it a high level language. It really depends on the context that the language is being discussed. For instance, in contrast to Python, C is a low-level language. However, in comparison to Assembly, C is a high level language. I know this might be a bit confusing. So in this article, we are going to discuss what exactly a high level and a low level language is. Then show some examples and diagrams as to why some languages are obviously high or low level languages and why some are considered more ambiguous depending on the context. What Is A High Level Language And A Low Level Programming Language?Let’s begin by defining exactly what a low level programming language is. According to Wikipedia, a low-level programming language is one that provides little to no abstraction. In more general terms, it is a language that is easily interpreted by the computer, not the programmer. We will talk more about abstraction below. As it is an important concept in understanding the difference between high level and low level programming languages. In contrast to low level language, a high level language is one that has been heavily abstracted. The language caters more to readability and allows the programmer to more easily understand what the code is doing. That’s pretty much it. More simply put, low level languages are written with the computer in mind, while high level languages are written with the programmer in mind. In order to write large and meaningful programs, we need to utilize both! Understanding AbstractionSo this brings us to the point of this article. Understanding the difference between high level and low level programming languages begins with abstraction. Abstraction in programming is the process of hiding away the code that is irrelevant and only providing the code that is necessary. When you write code in any programming language, you are actually writing highly abstracted machine code, or binary code. If you were to write code in C, here are the levels of abstraction you would see.
Here is a slightly more complex example of the full picture to help you get the idea. As you can see in this example, C, along with FORTRAN and Pascal are considered high level programming languages. However, did you know that languages like Python, C#, Java, JavaScript, and PHP are built on top of C? In which case, they are considered higher level languages than C. When people consider C a low or mid level language, they are usually referring to a diagram like this. Abstraction Through ExampleAbstraction is a pretty cool concept! I thought it would be even cooler to show you how abstraction works through an example. Below I am going to write “Hello World” in machine code, assembly code, C, and then Python. All of these programs essentially do the same thing, just at lower to higher abstractions. Let’s dive in!
2. “Hello, world!” in Assembly Code (Linux)
3. “Hello, world!” in C
4. “Hello, world!” in Python
Hopefully this was obvious, but did you see how each iteration was considerably easier to read and write? That’s the power of abstraction! SummarySo that’s pretty much it! That’s the difference between high level and low level programming languages. To summarize, high level programming languages are languages that are easier for humans to interpret. While low level languages are easier for machines to interpret. High and low level languages work together to create robust and sophisticated software through the process of abstraction. Looking for more to read? Check out my article on 7 types of algorithms every developer should know and 8 steps to becoming a web developer without a degree. If you are a new developer looking to learn web development, check out my list of free resources here. What is the difference between a high level programming language and a low level programming language quizlet?What is the difference between low-level and high-level programming languages? Low-level is binary, made up of combos of 1's and 0's. High-level is compiled and run in the computer's native language, but can be understood by humans.
What is the difference and similarity between high level and low level?The main difference between high level language and low level language is that, Programmers can easily understand or interpret or compile the high level language in comparison of machine. On the other hand, Machine can easily understand the low level language in comparison of human beings.
What is the difference between low level language and machine language?Low-Level language is the only language which can be understood by the computer. Low-level language is also known as Machine Language. The machine language contains only two symbols 1 & 0. All the instructions of machine language are written in the form of binary numbers 1's & 0's.
What is a key difference between highWhat is the difference between a high-level programming language and a low-level programming language? It is high-level if the program must be processed before it can run, and low-level if the computer can execute it without additional processing.
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