Introduction to Coding Languages

Machine Language

• Lowest level of languages
• Comprised of zeros and ones
• Machine-specific (differs from machine to machine)
• Difficult for humans to comprehend

Assembly Language

• Next level up from machine language
• More human-readable than machine language
• Direct translation from machine language to shorthand
• Low-level language (2nd generation, 2GL)
• Still difficult for coders to work with

High-Level Languages

• More readable by humans
• Closer to natural language (e.g., English)
• Called Third Generation Languages (3GL)
• Examples: C, C++, Java, C#, Python, JavaScript
• Python: closer to natural language (almost considered 4GL)

Fourth Generation Languages (4GL)

• Closer to natural language but not there yet
• Example: SQL (Structured Query Language)
• SQL Statement Example: SELECT * FROM customers
  • * is a wildcard character
  • customers is a database table

Fifth Generation Languages (5GL)

• Most like natural language
• Examples: Personal assistant software (Siri, Google Assistant)
• Promising, but still not perfect

Recap

• We discussed the evolution of coding languages from low-level to high-level
• Languages covered: Machine Language, Assembly Language, High-Level (3GL), 4GL, 5GL
• Progression towards natural language understanding