Page 207 - DCAP104_EXPOSURE_TO_COMPUTER_DISCPLINES

Exposure to Computer Disciplines

Notes correspond to levels, or generations. In terms of ease of use and capabilities, each generation is
an improvement over its predecessors. The five generations of languages are:

(a) Machine language
(b) Assembly languages
(c) High-level languages
(d) Very high-level languages
(e) Natural languages
Let us look at each of these categories.
10.2.1 Machine Language
Humans do not like to deal in numbers alone-they prefer letters and words. But, strictly speaking,
numbers are what machine language is. This lowest level of language, machine language,
represents data and program instructions as 1s and Os-binary digits corresponding to the on
and off electrical states in the computer. Each type of computer has its own machine language.
In the early days of computing, programmers had rudimentary systems for combining numbers
to represent instructions such as add and compare. Primitive by today’s standards, the programs
were not convenient for people to read and use. The computer industry quickly moved to develop
assembly languages.
10.2.2 Assembly Languages

Figure 10.1: Example Assembly Language Program

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