High and Low Level Languages

KS3 Computer Science

11-14 Years Old

48 modules covering EVERY Computer Science topic needed for KS3 level.

GCSE Computer Science

14-16 Years Old

45 modules covering EVERY Computer Science topic needed for GCSE level.

A-Level Computer Science

16-18 Years Old

66 modules covering EVERY Computer Science topic needed for A-Level.

KS3 Programming Languages (14-16 years)

  • An editable PowerPoint lesson presentation
  • Editable revision handouts
  • A glossary which covers the key terminologies of the module
  • Topic mindmaps for visualising the key concepts
  • Printable flashcards to help students engage active recall and confidence-based repetition
  • A quiz with accompanying answer key to test knowledge and understanding of the module

A-Level Procedural Languages (16-18 years)

  • An editable PowerPoint lesson presentation
  • Editable revision handouts
  • A glossary which covers the key terminologies of the module
  • Topic mindmaps for visualising the key concepts
  • Printable flashcards to help students engage active recall and confidence-based repetition
  • A quiz with accompanying answer key to test knowledge and understanding of the module

High and Low Level Languages: High-level Language

A high-level language is a programming language intended to streamline computer programming.  It is called high-level because it is quite a few steps away from the original code running on a computer’s central processing unit (CPU).  High-level source code consists of easy-to-read structures that are later translated into a low-level language, which can only be perceived and run by a specific CPU.

A high-level language is a particular programming language that allows the creation of a program in a much easier to understand programming framework, and is generally independent of the customer’s hardware architecture.

A high-level language is abstracted further away from the computer itself and focuses more on programming logic rather than on basic hardware elements like memory address and register usage.

High-level languages are intended to be used by a human operator or the programmer.  They are designed to be closer to humans than to computers.  Their programming technique and framework is easier to grasp and execute than low-level languages, and the code as a whole generally concentrates on whichever specific program is being developed.

A high-level language does not entail dealing with hardware limitations when creating a program.  Having said that, every single line of code written in a high-level language must be translated into machine language before being implemented by the computer.

Most popular programming languages are regarded as high-level languages.  Examples include:

  • C++
  • C#
  • Cobol
  • Fortran
  • Java
  • JavaScript
  • Objective C
  • Pascal
  • Perl
  • PHP
  • Python
  • Swift

Each of these programming languages uses distinct structures.  Some are intended for creating desktop software programs, while others are more appropriate for web development.  But what they all have in common is the fact that they must be handled by a compiler or interpreter before the code is implemented, and by virtue of this trait, they can all be described as high-level languages.

Source code written in languages like C++ and C# must be compiled into machine code to run.  The compilation process translates the human-readable structure (of the high-level language) into low-level language for a particular processor.  Source code, written in scripting languages like Perl and PHP, can be run through an interpreter, which converts the high-level code into low-level language while the program is being developed.

High and low level languages serve different purposes. High level language is intended to streamline computer programming and low-level language is a programming language that works with a computer’s hardware elements and limitations.

Low-level Language

A low-level language is a programming language that works with a computer’s hardware elements and limitations.  It has either an insignificant level of abstraction in reference to a computer or no level of abstraction at all and works to administer a computer’s operational definition.

A low-level language may also be called a computer’s native language.

Low-level languages are intended to maneuver and administer the hardware available to the computer in question, and they make demands of the set architecture of any given computer directly, without going through any auxiliary programs.

Low-level languages are treated as being closer to computers.  Basically speaking, their prime function is to manoeuvre, administer, and execute the computing hardware and assorted elements.  Programs and applications written in low-level language are directly implemented by the computing hardware, without any further interpretation or translation.

Machine language and assembly language are common examples of low-level languages.

Low-level languages are useful because programs written in them can be created to run very fast and with a minimal amount of memory usage.  However, they are recognised as being difficult to use because they require a deeper knowledge of machine language.

High-level Language vs. Low-level Language

High-level languages are where all of the innovative things take place, and they can be debugged in a much more straightforward manner than can low-level languages.  High-level languages are highly deployable, and they are mostly used to create software that can run on multiple platforms and architectures.

The subject of low-level languages is immense and requires a great deal of experience and knowledge.  Low-level languages are extremely challenging to understand, and just as challenging for other programmers to debug.  Each architecture family has its own set of assembly languages, which means that code written for one is impossible to run on the other. This adds up to the code not being portable, an important term to remember when talking about high- and low-level languages.

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