Please enable JavaScript.
Coggle requires JavaScript to display documents.
software (what is a program (Programs are our way of telling a computer…
software
what is a program
Programs are our way of telling a computer what to do, how to do it and when to do it. This enables a single computer to perform many different types of task.
A computer can be used to stream videos, write reports, provide weather forecasts and many, many other jobs.
Computer programs can be written in high-level languages or low-level languages, depending on the task to be performed and the computer to be used. Most programmers write programs in high-level languages.
High-level languages
Enable a programmer to focus on the problem to be solved and require no knowledge of the hardware and instruction set of the computer that will use the program.
-
High-level languages are designed with programmers in mind; programming statements are easier to understand than those written in a low-level language. This means that programs written in a high-level language are easier to:
-
-
-
-
Compiler
A computer program that translates a program written in a high-level language (HLL) into machine code so that it can be directly used by a computer to perform a required task.
Once a program is compiled the machine code can be used again and again to perform the same task without recompilation.
-
Assembler
A computer program that translates a program written in an assembly language into machine code so that it can be directly used by a computer to perform a required task.
Once a program is assembled, the machine code can be used repeatedly to perform the same task without re-assembly.
-
machine code
Programmers do not usually write in machine code as it is difficult to understand and it can be complicated to manage data manipulation and storage.
-
Translators
Programs are written by humans in a form that people who are trained as computer programmers can understand. In order to be used by a computer, programs need to be translated into the binary instructions, or machine code, that the computer understands.
-
Interpreter
A computer program that reads a statement from a program written in a high-level language, performs the action specified and then does the same with the next statement and so on
-
Low-level languages
Relate to the specific architecture and hardware of a particular type of computer. Low-level languages can refer to machine code, the binary instructions that a computer understands, or an assembly language that needs to be translated into machine code.
Assembly languages
Few programmers write programs in an assembly language. Those programmers who do, do so for the following reasons:
-
-
-
-
