We explain what a programming language is and how they can be classified. Also, some examples of these programs.
What is a programming language?
In computing, is known as a programming language to a program destined to the construction of other Software. Its name is due to the fact that it comprises a formal language which is designed to organize algorithms and logical processes that will then be carried out by a computer or computer system, thus allowing control of their physical and logical behavior and their communication with the human user.
Said language is composed of symbols and syntactic and semantic rules, expressed in the form of instructions and logical relations, by means of which the source code of a particular application or piece of software. Thus, the final result of these can also be called a programming language processes creative.
The implementation of programming languages allows the joint and coordinated work, through an affine and finite set of possible instructions, of various programmers or architects of software, for which these languages imitate, at least formally, the logic of human languages or natural.
They should not be confused, however, with the different types of computer language. The latter represent a much broader category, where programming languages and many others are contained. computer protocols, As the HTML of the websites.
Types of programming language
Typically a distinction is made between the following types of programming language:
- Low-level languages. These are programming languages that are designed for specific hardware and therefore cannot be migrated or exported to others computers. They make the most of the system for which they were designed, but do not apply to any other.
- High-level languages. These are programming languages that aspire to be a more universal language, so they can be used without distinction from the architecture of the hardware, that is, in various types of systems. There are general purpose and specific purpose.
- Medium level languages. This term is not always accepted, which proposes programming languages that are located in a middle point between the previous two: since it allows high-level operations and at the same time the local management of the system architecture.
Another form of classification is often the following:
- Imperative languages. Less flexible, given the sequentiality in which they construct their instructions, these languages program through conditional orders and a command block to which they return once the function has been carried out.
- Functional languages. Also called procedural, these languages program through functions that are invoked according to the input received, which in turn are the result of other functions.
Examples of programming languages
Some of the most popular programming languages are:
- BASIC. Its name comes from the acronym ofBeginner’s All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code (Symbolic code of general-purpose instructions for beginners), and is a family of high-level imperative languages, first appeared in 1964. Its most current version is Visual Basic .NET.
- COBOL. His name is an acronym forCommon Business-Orient Language (Common language oriented to business) and it is a universal programming language created in 1959, mainly oriented to management computing, that is, business.
- FORTRAN. Its name comes fromThe IBMMathematical FormulaTranslating System (IBM's mathematical formula translation system), and is a high-level, general-purpose, imperative-type programming language designed for scientific and engineering applications.
- Java. A general-purpose, object-oriented programming language, whose spirit is summarized in the acronym WORA:Written Eleven, RunAnywhere, that is: Written once, it works anywhere. The idea was to design a universal language using syntax derived from the C and C ++ languages, but using fewer low-level utilities than either.