High-level languages

Are closer to human languages, commands are written in a form that resembles English. They are not machine specific. Once the program has been written, it can be used on various types of computers.

• FORTRAN

  was developed by IBM in 1954 and is still used in scientific and mathematical applications.

• COBOL

  (Common Business Oriented Language) was developed in 1959 mainly for business data processing because it offers excellent file handling

• BASIC

  developed in 1960s was easy to learn and used as a teaching language. Visual BASIC is its modern version and is used to build graphical elements such as buttons and windows in Windows programs.

• PASCAL

  was created in 1971 and used to teach the fundamentals of programming.

• C

  was developed in the 1980s and is used to write system software, graphics and commercial applications.

• C++

  is a version of C incorporating object-oriented programming, the programmer concentrates on one piece of text, graphics, etc. and gives it functions which can be altered without changing the entire program. The programs are thus easier to modify. It was used to produce the Microsoft Windows operating system.

• JAVA

  is based on C++ but optimized to run on the Web. It was originally designed for programming small electronic devices such as mobile phones. Java is somewhat simpler and easier to learn than C++ and has characteristics that give it other advantages over C++. Java applets are small programs that run automatically on web pages and let you watch animated characters play music and games.

Programs written in high-level languages have to be translated into a machine code by a compiler or an interpreter.

An interpreter takes each instruction in turn, converts it into machine code and carries it out. If the document needs to be read again, the same process has to be repeated.

A compiler converts the whole program into machine code in one go. The conversion – object code - can be written to a disk for repeated use.