Generation of
Programming
Languages
Programming Languages
A programming language allows a programmer to
communicate with a computer and tell it what
operations to perform by using certain symbols and
words in accordance with predefined rules.
Programming
the process of creating software.
Programmer
a person who designs, writes and tests software
programs.
The Generation of Programming Languages
First Generation: Machine Language
Was developed in the 1940s and early 1950s.
The lowest-level programming language.
Machine languages are the only languages
understood by computers.
While easily understood by computers, machine
languages are almost impossible for humans to use
because they consist entirely of numbers, in which
instruction and data are expressed as a series of 0s
and 1s.
Programmers, therefore, use either a high-level
programming language or an assembly language
.
Second Generation: Assembly Language
was developed in mid 1950s.
An assembly language contains the same instructions as
a machine language, but the instructions and data are
expressed in short symbolic codes that were easier to
understand and remember.
Example: letters STO used to represent the
instruction for STORE
Assembly language programs are translated into
machine language by a program called an assembler.
Third Generation: High-level Language
was developed in during the late 1950s, in which
programs are written using English-like words
combined into sentence-like statements.
Programs written in high-level languages are translated
into assembly language or machine language by a
compiler.
During the 1960s and 1970s, many new high-level
languages were developed, such as FORTRAN
(Formula Translator), COBOL (Common Business
Oriented Language), BASIC (Beginners All Purpose
Symbolic Instruction Code), Pascal and C
Fourth Generation: Very high-level
Language (or fourth-generation programming
languages)
a programming language with a very high level of
abstraction, used primarily as a professional
programmer productivity tool. A very high level
programming language is also known as a goal-oriented
programming language.
Two basic categories of 4GL
1. to help programmers develop software efficiently
Example: application generator, which allows to specify what
needs to be done and then generates the code needed to create a
program to perform task
2. to help users work more productively
Examples: query language – tools that provide customized
access to data stored in a data base
report generators – which help to produce
customized reports
Fifth Generation: Natural Languages
a programming language that resembles the English
language even more than 4GL
The Evolution of programming languages
Generation Language Introduced Sample statement or action
First Machine Languate 1940s 00010101
Second Assembly language 1950s STO
Third High-level 1960s Balance=balance + deposit;
languages such as
Pascal, COBOL,
BASIC, C, C++
Fourth Query and database 1970s PRINT EMPLOYEE NUMBER IF
languages such as GROSS PAY > 1000
SQL
Fifth Natural and 1980s IF certain medical conditions
intelligent exist, THEN a specific
languages diagnosis is made
Software Creation
Software is created with programming languages and related
utilities.
Flowchart
it consist of boxes with different shapes that contains simple
statements or sentences commonly called instructions and
connected together by lines.
The Flowchart Symbols
Terminal contains either the word START or the
word STOP, indicates the starting and which
stopping points in the flowchart.
Input/output this parallelogram is used
for input and output instructions.
Process control is used for any data-
processing operations for which no
other
symbol is reserved.
Decision symbol contains a condition, if
the condition is true, the path
marked
followed.
Arrowheads/flow lines used to show
the flow of the solution
Connector = it is used as a continuation symbol of the
flowchart in a page. It is also used to indicate the point
of entry and point of exit of repletion.
