Levels of Programming Languages (2024 version)

Programming languages are categorized into various levels based on how closely they interact with the hardware or the abstraction level they provide to the programmer. Here’s an overview of the different levels of programming languages:

1. Machine/Binary Language (1st Generation) — Very Low Level Language

Definition: The lowest level of programming language, consisting of binary code (0s and 1s) that a computer’s CPU can directly execute.

Characteristics:

No abstraction; directly interacts with hardware.
Extremely difficult to write, read, or debug.
Specific to each computer’s architecture (i.e., not portable).

Eg. Circuits and Logic gates to design codes

2. Low-Level Language (2nd Generation)

Definition: A low-level language that uses mnemonics (short, human-readable codes) to represent machine instructions.

Characteristics:

Provides a slight abstraction over machine code.
Requires an assembler to convert into machine code.
It is still hardware-specific but easier to read and write than machine language.

Eg. We use Assembler to process codes

3. Middle-Level Languages (3rd Generation)

Definition: More abstracted languages that are closer to humans as well as machines, making them easier to write, read, and understand while easy to handle low-level operations.

Characteristics:

Focus on portability across different systems.
Require a compiler or interpreter to convert to machine code.
Focuses on procedures

Eg. C, FORTRAN, BASIC, COBOL

4. High-Level Languages (4th Generation)

Definition: Such programming languages are designed to be easier for humans to write and understand. They focus more on data than on procedures.

Characteristics:

Focus on portability across different architecture.
Require a compiler or interpreter to convert to machine code.
Mostly OOPs.
Support complex data structures and libraries.
Used for rapid application development, reducing the amount of boilerplate code.

Eg. C++, Java, C#, Python, JavaScript, R, etc.

5. Very High-Level Languages (5th generation)

Definition: These are languages used for problem-solving using constraints and logic rather than traditional programming.

Characteristics:

Focus on automating problem-solving and leveraging AI or machine learning.
Users specify what the problem is, not how to solve it.
Often used in Artificial Intelligence research.

Eg. Prolog, LISP, Mercury, Lua, Python

6. Quantum-Level Languages (6th Generation) — Listed by Gaurav Roy (because that’s the future of programming languages)

Definition: It represents a frontier in computing, specifically designed to leverage the power of quantum computers. Quantum programming languages manipulate quantum bits (qubits), which can exist in multiple states simultaneously. Mr. Gaurav added this as the 6th.

Characteristics:

Runs on Quantum Gates
Allow massive parallel processing
Qubits can be entangled through programming.

Principles are critical for quantum speedup in algorithms like Shor’s algorithm for factoring and Grover’s search algorithm

Eg. Q#, Qiskit, Cirq

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