High Level Programming Language

Any computer programs may be written either in low-level language or high-level language. High level programming language is close to Human language which is basically English. The programmer does not need to have any knowledge about the hardware while writing programs in a high-level language.

In this tutorial, You will be knowing all about high-level programming language or simply high-level language and you will also come to know the answers of different questions like:

What is meant by a high-level programming language?
What are five high-level languages?
What are the features of high-level language?
What are the advantages and limitations of high-level language? and so on. 

Let's start with the first question which is given below.


What is High-Level Programming Language?

A language that uses English words or mathematical symbols in the place of the mnemonic code is called high-level programming language or simply high-level language. It is a user-friendly programming language.

It is machine-independent. Each and every instruction written by the programmer in a high-level language is get translated into many machine language instructions by using a translator software.

This translator software is either a compiler or an interpreter. Both the translator works in different ways. An interpreter converts the high-level language code, one line at a time (line by line conversion). When the line is converted into a machine code, it is then executed at the same time.

If any error occurs while converting the code, the interpreter stops translating and notify the errors to the user. 

The compiler translates the source code in its own way. It translates the code's line one after another (all at once conversion) but does not execute at the same time of translations. 

Once the translation is done and the source code is converted into object code then the program can be run independent of the translator software and development environment.

If there is an error in the source code then the compiler tells the user about the error and the user has to recompile the code after correcting the error.

In Assembly language, one-to-one translation occurs i.e, the instructions written by the programmer in assembly language are converted into machine language by the assembler. But in the case of a high-level programming language, one-to-many translation occurs.

High-level Language is also known as a problem-oriented language because the instructions that are written by the programmer are chosen to be useful for solving the problems.

For example, a high-level language that handles business type applications is called a business-oriented language. 

In the same way, a high-level language that handles computations and calculations rather than handling large data files is called mathematical-oriented language. 

A high-level language in which the instructions are written like the language of the problem is called problem-oriented language.


High-level language uses a translator to translate the programs into machine language. The translator which translates the programs written in a high-level language into machine language is called an interpreter. 


Once the programs are translated, they are executed by the interpreter. A compiler translates source code (whole program) into object code (machine language) then it can be executed anytime.


Python, PHP, Ruby, C#, Java, and many others are the high-level language examples. These languages are five high-level languages that are used on a large scale nowadays and there are so many high-level languages that are used in the industry.


Features of High-Level Programming Language

1. It uses English words and Mathematical operators.

2. It is a machine-independent language.

3. It requires translations i.e., the code written in the high-level language needs to be translated or converted into machine code.

4. It is portable.

5. It is easier to read, write, and maintain the code written in a high-level language because it is similar to the English language.

6. It makes use of data types, data structures, and logical operators.

7. The programmers can access the module libraries. They can even make use of several in-built functions of a high-level language.


Advantages of High-level Language

1. Machine Independent: High-level languages are machine-independent. That means programs written for one model of a computer can be executed on another one. 

This means that it is portable from one machine to another. It is a very good advantage of high-level language because the programs that a company is currently using need not be changed even if the computer system is changed.

2. Easy to Learn and Use: These languages are easy to use and learn because they are similar to the languages that we use in our daily life. 

3. Fewer Errors: The programmers need not write all the small steps carried out by the computer and hence the probability of making errors in a high-level language is less. 

4. Lower Program Preparation Cost: Writing programs in high-level language takes less effort and less time and hence there is lower program preparation cost.

5. Easier to Maintain: Programs written in high-level languages are easier to maintain than any other language.



Limitations of High-Level Programming Language

1. Lower EfficiencyA program written in Assembly language or Machine language is more efficient than that of a program written in High-level language. This means that the programs written in high-level language takes more time to run and more storage.


2. Less Flexibility: A high-level language is less flexible in comparison to Assembly language because they do not have instructions to control the CPU, memory, and registers of the computer system.


Three forms of High-Level Programming Language


Each language uses different features of high-level programming languages.
Previous
Next Post »