What is a Programming Language? - Webopedia

A programming language is a vocabulary and set of grammatical rules for instructing a computer or computing device to perform specific tasks ... Definitions Insights Reference Topics AboutUs Search searchterm Definitions Insights Reference Topics AboutUs typetosearchtermSearch HomeLanguages ProgrammingLanguage VangieBeal September1,1996 Updatedon:April25,2022 Share FacebookTwitterLinkedinEmail Aprogramminglanguageisavocabularyandsetofgrammaticalrulesforinstructingacomputerorcomputingdevicetoperformspecifictasks.Thetermprogramminglanguageusuallyreferstohigh-levellanguages,suchasBASIC,C,C++,COBOL,Java,FORTRAN,Ada,andPascal. Inthisdefinition... Howdoesprogramminglanguagework?High-LevelProgrammingLanguagesWhatareaprogramminglanguage’skeyfunctions?Whousesprogramminglanguages?TypesofprogramminglanguagesWhatisthetopprogramminglangauge?Fivemostcommonprogramminglanguages Howdoesprogramminglanguagework? Eachprogramminglanguagehasauniquesetofkeywords(wordsthatitunderstands)andaspecialsyntaxfororganizingprograminstructions. Aprogramwritteninaparticularprogramminglanguagehastwoparts:instructionswritteninthatlanguageandstatementswritteninanotherlanguagecalledmachinecode.Machinecodeisabinaryformatthatconsistsofonesandzeros(1and0);eachdigitrepresentseitheraninstructionordatawithintheprogram. Whenaprogrammertypesacommandintotheircomputer’sterminal,itsendsthoseinstructionstotheircomputer’sprocessor,whichtranslatesthemintomachinecode,soitcanexecutethem.Itthentakesanyinformationproducedbythosecommandsandtranslatesitbackintosomethinghumanscanunderstand—usuallyEnglish. Theprocessissimilarforwebsites;whenauserenterstextintoasearchenginelikeGoogle,itconvertstheuser’squeryintomachinecodebeforesendingitofftoitsservers.Itthenprocessesalloftheresultsfromitssearchalgorithmusingmachinecodebeforetranslatingthembackintoahuman-readableform. Tolearnmoreaboutprogramming,checkoutthesecourses. TechRepublicAcademy   High-LevelProgrammingLanguages High-levelprogramminglanguages,whilesimplecomparedtohumanlanguages,aremorecomplexthanthelanguagesthecomputeractuallyunderstands,calledmachinelanguages.EachdifferenttypeofCPUhasitsownuniquemachinelanguage. Lyingbetweenmachinelanguagesandhigh-levellanguagesarelanguagescalledassemblylanguages.Assemblylanguagesaresimilartomachinelanguages,buttheyaremucheasiertoprograminbecausetheyallowaprogrammertosubstitutenamesfornumbers.Machinelanguagesconsistofnumbersonly. Lyingabovehigh-levellanguagesarelanguagescalledfourth-generationlanguages(usuallyabbreviated4GL).4GLsarefarremovedfrommachinelanguagesandrepresenttheclassofcomputerlanguagesclosesttohumanlanguages.Regardlessofwhatlanguageisused,theprogrammusteventuallybeconverted intomachinelanguagesothatthecomputercanunderstandit.Therearetwowaystodothis: 1)Compiletheprogram. 2)Interprettheprogram. RecommendedReading:Seecompileandinterpreterformoreinformationaboutthesetwomethods. Whatareaprogramminglanguage’skeyfunctions? Themainfunctionsofaprogramminglanguagearetostoreandmanipulatedata,controlhardware,providesecurity,andbeanunderstandablemediumforhumans.Mostprogramminglanguagessharethesefunctionsastheirkeycharacteristicsbutdifferinmanyways,suchassyntaxorlibrarysizes. Otherfunctionsvarybasedonhowthey’rebeingused.Forexample,ifalanguageisbeingusedtocontrolhardware,itneedsadditionalprogramsthattellithowtoprocessdatawithouthumaninteraction. Inaddition,encryptionmaybeneededifit’susedforcommunicationsbetweentwodevices.Programminglanguagesusestandardizedfunctionstocommunicatewitheachother,socompatibledevicescancommunicate. Whousesprogramminglanguages? Anyonewhowritescomputerprogramswilluseaprogramminglanguage.Programmersareinchargeoftranslatingpeople’sideasintocode,fromvideogamestowebsitestosoftware.Theywritedocumentationabouthowtowritecodeforanapplicationorwebsite.Someprofessionalsthatuseprogramminglanguagesinclude: AsoftwareorapplicationdevelopercreatesapplicationsforcomputersandmobiledevicesusinglanguageslikeJava,C++,orObjectiveC. Acomputersystemsanalystusesprogramminglanguagestodevelopnewtechnologiesandcreatebetterwaysforbusinessestorun.Theseindividualsstudybusinessprocesses,workflowprocesses,anduserneedstodesignnewtechnologiestohelpenterprisesoperatemoreefficiently. Awebdeveloperissomeonewhobuildswebsites.Webdevelopmenthasmanyspecialities(e.g.,front-enddevelopment,back-enddevelopment).Generallyspeaking,webdevelopersbuildbothclient-sideandserver-sideapplicationsusinglanguageslikeHTML,CSS,JavaScript,Python,RubyonRails,orotherprogramminglanguagesdependingontheprojectrequirements. Acomputersystemsengineerplaysanimportantroleinprogrammingsoftwareandoverseeingnetworks,systems,computers,andtelecommunicationsdevices.Theyalsowritecomputerprogramstodebugsoftwareproblems.Theseengineerstypicallyworkaspartoflargeteams,includinghardwareengineers,networkengineers,andsoftwareengineers. Anapplicationdeveloperturnsanideaintoaproductbywritingcodeforaspecificplatform(likeiOSorAndroid)usinglanguageslikeSwiftorJava. Typesofprogramminglanguages Therearemanydifferentprogramminglanguagesinusetoday,buttheyfallintofivemaincategoriesaccordingtotheirpurpose.Theyinclude: ProceduralProgrammingLanguage Aproceduralprogramminglanguageusesstatementstospecifyactions,allowingaprogrammertowriteinstructions(calledprocedures)acomputercanexecute.Theseinstructionstellacomputerwhatoperationstoperformongivendataandhowtheseoperationsshouldbeperformed. FunctionalProgrammingLanguage Afunctionalprogramminglanguageemphasizesfunctionsthatreturnvalues,whichcanbeusedbyotherfunctionsorbeassignedasvaluestovariablesordatastructures.Ittreatscomputationastheevaluationofmathematicalfunctionsandavoidsstateandmutabledata.Functionallanguagesweredesignedwiththeorem-provinginmindratherthantraditionalcomputerapplications. ScriptingProgrammingLanguage Ascriptingprogramminglanguagesupportsscripts—programswrittenforaspecialrun-timeenvironmentthatautomatetasksnormallyperformedbyhumans—asopposedtostandaloneprograms. LogicProgrammingLanguage Alogicprogramminglanguageallowsprogrammerstowriteprogramsbasedonrulesexpressedinlogicalform. Object-OrientedProgrammingLanguage Anobject-orientedprogramminglanguagesupportsobject-orientedanalysisanddesign(OOA&D).Ithasbecomeincreasinglypopularsincethemid-1980sandisnowalmostuniversallysupportedinmodernprogramminglanguages. Whatisthetopprogramminglangauge? AccordingtoIEEESpectrum’sinteractiveranking,Pythonisthetopprogramminglanguageof2017,followedbyC,JavaandC++.Ofcourse,thechoiceofwhichlanguagetousedependsonthetypeofcomputertheprogramistorunon,whatsortofprogramitis,andtheexpertiseoftheprogrammer. Source:GithubOctoverse JavaScriptisthemostcommonprogramminglanguageaccordingtoGitHubOctoversein2021.However,thebestlanguagedependsontheprogrammer’susecases.JavaScript,Python,Java,PHP,C++,Ruby,andotherprogramminglanguagesareusedinvariouswaysdependingontheprogrammer’sneeds. Whenitcomestochoosingaprogramminglanguage,there’snosinglerightanswer.Eachonehasitsownstrengthsandweaknesses—andthosechangeovertimeasnewversionsoflanguagesarereleased. Theimportantthingistounderstandaproject’sprogramminglanguagerequirementsbeforedecidingwhichoneisbestfortheproject. Fivemostcommonprogramminglanguages Fivemostcommonprogramminglangaugesbecausenoprogramminglanguageisstrictlysuperior,it’sbesttochooseonethatfitsaprogrammer’sproject’susecase.Herearethemostcommonprogramminglanguages. Javascript JavaScriptisalightweightprogramminglanguagethatrunsinwebbrowsers.It’sascriptinglanguageforbothclient-side(web-based)andserver-side(runningonwebservers)uses. Itenableswebsitestostoreandusedata,accesspartsofpagesknownascomponents,updatethosecomponents’contents,runfunctionswheneventshappenonawebsite,makepagesmoreinteractive,etc. Moreover,it’ssupportedbyallmajorbrowsers,whichmeansitcanreachvirtuallyanyuseracrossmultipleplatforms(WindowsPCs,Macs,Linuxcomputers).Inshort,JavaScriptisarguablyoneofthemostimportantprogramminglanguagesintoday’sageofwebdevelopment. CommonJavaScriptusecases ThemostcommonuseofJavaScriptistocreateinteractiveelementsonwebpages,suchasuserloginboxes,checkboxes,ordropdownmenusthatallbecomeactivewhenusershoveroverthemwiththeirmousepointer. It’softenusedinconjunctionwithothermarkuplanguagessuchasHTMLandstylesheetlanguagessuchasCSSaspartofanoverallwebsitedesignanddevelopmentprocess.OtherJavaScriptusecasesinclude: Interactivewebsitedesign Gamedevelopment Applicationdevelopment Webandmobileappdevelopment Python PythonisasimplelanguagecreatedbyGuidovanRossumin1991.Itisaninterpretedlanguage,meaningitdoesn’tneedtobecompiledbeforeuse. Pythonoffersawiderangeoffeatures,includingsupportformultipleprogrammingparadigms(imperative,object-oriented,etc.),exceptionhandling(try/except/finally),dynamictyping(dynamictypechecking),averysmallruntimeenvironmentwithfewerdependenciesthanotherlanguages,fullUnicodesupport,andmuchmore. CommonPythonusecases Pythonisaninterpretedhigh-levelprogramminglanguageforgeneral-purposeprogramming.Itcanbeusedtoautomatetasks,conductdataanalysis,creategraphicaluserinterfaces(GUIs),developvideogames,andmore.OtherPythonusecasesinclude: Datavisualizationanddatascience Searchengineoptimization(SEO) Artificialintelligence,machinelearning,andsubsetssuchasbigdata,dataanalytics,etc. Developmentofwebscrapingapplications Java Javaisbothaprogramminglanguageandacomputingplatform.ProgrammerscanuseJavatowriteappsforphones,desktopcomputers,laptops,tablets,andsmartwatches.AndbecauseitisbasedonC/C++syntax,manyofitscommandsaresimilar. ButwhereC/C++enablesdeveloperstowritelow-levelcodeforsystemsprogramming,Javawasdesignedforhigh-levelappdevelopment. ItwasinitiatedinJune1991byJamesGosling,MikeSheridan,ChrisWarth,EdFrank,andPatrickNaughton.However,itwasinitiallyreleasedatSunMicrosystemsin1996afterundergoingdifferentnameiterations(Oak,Green,andJavafromJavacoffee). CommonJavausecases Javaisaprogramminglanguagethatallowsprogrammerstobuildapplicationsandsoftware.Thankstoitsobject-orientednature,amassivelibraryofprebuiltAPIs,andcross-platformcapabilities,it’sespeciallyusefulforcreatingenterpriseapps. Javacancreateanythingfromgamestomobileapps,desktopapplications,websites,enterprisesoftware,andembeddedsystems.Otherusecasesinclude: Buildingfinancialsectorserverapps,suchasthosthatrunATMs DevelopingdesktopGUIapplications Scientificapplications,suchasMATLAB Buildingsoftwaretools,suchasNetBeansIDE TypeScript TypeScriptisanopen-source,object-orientedlanguagedevelopedandmaintainedbyMicrosoft.ThisJavaScriptsupersetaddstypes,classes,andmodulestoJavaScriptandallowsdeveloperstowriteapplicationsonanybrowserorplatformwithoutadditionalcompiling. It’susedinlarge-scalewebapplicationsandpopularlibrariessuchasAngularJS.Inaddition,TypeScriptisbasedonECMAScript6thEdition(ES6),soit’shighlycompatiblewithmostotherJavaScriptcodebases. CommonTypeScriptusecases TypeScript’spurposeistosimplifylarge-scaleapplicationsthroughadvancedfeaturessuchasoptionalstatictypes,classes,andmodules.ManyorganizationsthatemployTypeScriptalsouseitformicroservices—smallpiecesofcodebuilttoperformasingletask—asitimprovesunittesting. TypeScriptalsohelpsreducebugs,streamlineprogrammingprocesses,enhancecodereadability,andimplementtoolingsupport. C# C#(CSharp)isanobject-orientedprogramminglanguagethatMicrosoftdevelopedwithinits.NETinitiative.ThelanguageisahybridofCandC++thatencompassesstrongtyping,imperative,declarative,functional,generic,object-oriented(class-based),andcomponent-orientedprogrammingdisciplines. CommonC#usecases C#isamodernprogramminglanguageusedforbuildingapplicationsforweb,desktop,mobile,gamingplatforms,andembeddeddevices.It’smostcommonlyassociatedwithWindowsdevelopmentbutisalsopopularwithMicrosoft’sXamarinformobiledevelopmentandAndroidapps. Further,C#canbeusedforgamedevelopment,webappdevelopment,andWindowsapplicationdevelopment. ThisarticlewasreviewedandextensivelyupdatedinApril2022byAminuAbdul   VangieBealVangieBealisafreelancebusinessandtechnologywritercoveringInternettechnologiesandonlinebusinesssincethelate'90s. RelatedArticles Built-InFunction Development WebopediaStaff-September1,19960 Abuilt-infunctionisafunctionthatisalreadyavailableinaprogramminglanguage,application,oranothertoolthatcanbeaccessedbyend... ANDOperator Development WebopediaStaff-September1,19960 TheANDoperatorisalogicaloperator,orBooleanoperator,thatevaluatestoTRUEifallofitsoperandsaretrueandFALSEotherwise.... VisualBasic Languages BrennaMiles-October21,19960 VisualBasicisafamilyofprogramminglanguagesdevelopedbyMicrosoft.ThemostcommonlyusedversionofVisualBasicisVisualBasic.NET,now... 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