programming language


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programming language

a simple language system designed to facilitate the writing of computer programs
Collins Discovery Encyclopedia, 1st edition © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

programming language

[′prō‚gram·iŋ ‚laŋ·gwij]
(computer science)
The language used by a programmer to write a program for a computer.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms, 6E, Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

programming language

(language)
A formal language in which computer programs are written. The definition of a particular language consists of both syntax (how the various symbols of the language may be combined) and semantics (the meaning of the language constructs).

Languages are classified as low level if they are close to machine code and high level if each language statement corresponds to many machine code instructions (though this could also apply to a low level language with extensive use of macros, in which case it would be debatable whether it still counted as low level). A roughly parallel classification is the description as first generation language through to fifth generation language.

The other major classification of languages distinguishes between imperative languages, procedural language and declarative languages.

Programming languages time-line/family tree.
This article is provided by FOLDOC - Free Online Dictionary of Computing (foldoc.org)
The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Language, Programming

a formal symbolic system used for human communication with a digital computer. The programming language is designed to describe data (information) and algorithms (programs) for data processing by a computer. Examples of programming languages are ALGOL, COBOL, and FORTRAN; machine languages are also programming languages.

Programming languages occupy an intermediate position between natural languages and formal, or formalized, languages. They are similar to the former in grammatical structure (use of words from natural languages, presence of a phrase structure, and so on); they resemble formal languages in the use of mathematical symbols and concepts, but most importantly because they have strict, precisely described rules for constructing texts in the programming language and expressing the meaning of such texts. The principal use of programming languages is as a means of programming, that is, for writing programs and running them on digital computers.

The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
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