Session 61 (28 February 2013)

A computer program - a series of organised instructions that directs a computer to perform task

Programming - creation of a set of commands or instruction

Programming language - a set of words, symbols and codes that enables humans to communicate with computers

Examples of programming language:

• BASIC (Beginner's All Purpose Symbolic Instruction)
• Pascal
• C
• C++
• Smalltalk

Low-level programming language:

• 1st Generation
• 2nd Generation

High-level programming language:

• 3rd Generation
• 4th Generation
• 5th Generation

1st Generation (1GL)

- machine language

- written in binary code

- each statement corresponds to each other

2nd Generation (2GL)

- assembly language

- symbolic instruction codes

- assembler - a program that translate assembly language into machine language

3rd Generation (3GL)

- procedural language

- English-like words

- compiler or interpreter - translate the high-level programer into machine language

4th Generation (4GL)

- non-procedural language

- enables user to access data in a database

- examples: SQL, NOMAD, FOCUS

5th Generation (5GL)

- visual programming language

- natural language

- example: Prolog, Mercury

Object-Oriented Programming: Java, Visual, C++