Second-generation programming language

Last updated

The label of second-generation programming language (2GL) is a generational way to categorize assembly languages. [1] [2] [3] They belong to the low-level programming languages.

The term was coined to provide a distinction from higher level machine independent third-generation programming languages (3GLs) (such as COBOL, C, or JavaScript) and earlier first-generation programming languages (machine code) [2] [4]

Second-generation programming language

Second-generation programming languages have the following properties:

Second-generation languages are sometimes used for parts of kernels or device drivers, and are sometimes used in video games, graphics programs, and other intensive programs. [1]

In modern programs, second generation assembly languages are rarely used. [5] Programming in second generation languages may yield speed benefits, but several disadvantages have led to its decline:

The vast majority of programs are written in a third-generation programming language or a fourth-generation programming language. Assembly's main advantage, speed, has degraded by the fact that well written C code can often be as fast or even faster than hand written assembly [2] [6]

Second generation languages are perhaps most significant in their place in computing history. For a long time, Second generation assembly languages were the only good option for development for many machines, such as the NES or the Commodore 64. [7] [8] Second generation languages represented a massive step away from the tradition of programmers conforming to the needs of a machine, and the first step towards the machine accommodating for the programmer, a phenomenon that would be repeated in all subsequent programming language generations. [2] [3]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Assembly language</span> Low-level programming language

In computer programming, assembly language, often referred to simply as assembly and commonly abbreviated as ASM or asm, is any low-level programming language with a very strong correspondence between the instructions in the language and the architecture's machine code instructions. Assembly language usually has one statement per machine instruction (1:1), but constants, comments, assembler directives, symbolic labels of, e.g., memory locations, registers, and macros are generally also supported.

Computer programming or coding is the composition of sequences of instructions, called programs, that computers can follow to perform tasks. It involves designing and implementing algorithms, step-by-step specifications of procedures, by writing code in one or more programming languages. Programmers typically use high-level programming languages that are more easily intelligible to humans than machine code, which is directly executed by the central processing unit. Proficient programming usually requires expertise in several different subjects, including knowledge of the application domain, details of programming languages and generic code libraries, specialized algorithms, and formal logic.

In computing, a compiler is a computer program that translates computer code written in one programming language into another language. The name "compiler" is primarily used for programs that translate source code from a high-level programming language to a low-level programming language to create an executable program.

In computing, source code, or simply code, is text that conforms to a human-readable programming language and specifies the behavior of a computer. A programmer writes code to produce a program that runs on a computer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Interpreter (computing)</span> Program that executes source code without a separate compilation step

In computer science, an interpreter is a computer program that directly executes instructions written in a programming or scripting language, without requiring them previously to have been compiled into a machine language program. An interpreter generally uses one of the following strategies for program execution:

  1. Parse the source code and perform its behavior directly;
  2. Translate source code into some efficient intermediate representation or object code and immediately execute that;
  3. Explicitly execute stored precompiled bytecode made by a compiler and matched with the interpreter’s Virtual Machine.

A first-generation programming language (1GL) is a machine-level programming language and belongs to the low-level programming languages.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">PIC microcontrollers</span> Line of single-chip microprocessors from Microchip Technology

PIC is a family of microcontrollers made by Microchip Technology, derived from the PIC1650 originally developed by General Instrument's Microelectronics Division. The name PIC initially referred to Peripheral Interface Controller, and is currently expanded as Programmable Intelligent Computer. The first parts of the family were available in 1976; by 2013 the company had shipped more than twelve billion individual parts, used in a wide variety of embedded systems.

In computer science, a high-level programming language is a programming language with strong abstraction from the details of the computer. In contrast to low-level programming languages, it may use natural language elements, be easier to use, or may automate significant areas of computing systems, making the process of developing a program simpler and more understandable than when using a lower-level language. The amount of abstraction provided defines how "high-level" a programming language is.

A low-level programming language is a programming language that provides little or no abstraction from a computer's instruction set architecture—commands or functions in the language map that are structurally similar to processor's instructions. Generally, this refers to either machine code or assembly language. Because of the low abstraction between the language and machine language, low-level languages are sometimes described as being "close to the hardware". Programs written in low-level languages tend to be relatively non-portable, due to being optimized for a certain type of system architecture.

A programming paradigm is a relatively high-level way to structure and conceptualize the implementation of a computer program. A programming language can be classified as supporting one or more paradigms.

In computer science, program optimization, code optimization, or software optimization is the process of modifying a software system to make some aspect of it work more efficiently or use fewer resources. In general, a computer program may be optimized so that it executes more rapidly, or to make it capable of operating with less memory storage or other resources, or draw less power.

A cross compiler is a compiler capable of creating executable code for a platform other than the one on which the compiler is running. For example, a compiler that runs on a PC but generates code that runs on an Android smartphone is a cross compiler.

In computer science, computer engineering and programming language implementations, a stack machine is a computer processor or a virtual machine in which the primary interaction is moving short-lived temporary values to and from a push down stack. In the case of a hardware processor, a hardware stack is used. The use of a stack significantly reduces the required number of processor registers. Stack machines extend push-down automata with additional load/store operations or multiple stacks and hence are Turing-complete.

In computing, native software or data-formats are those that were designed to run on a particular operating system. In a more technical sense, native code is code written specifically for a certain processor. In contrast, cross-platform software can be run on multiple operating systems and/or computer architectures.

Game programming, a subset of game development, is the software development of video games. Game programming requires substantial skill in software engineering and computer programming in a given language, as well as specialization in one or more of the following areas: simulation, computer graphics, artificial intelligence, physics, audio programming, and input. For multiplayer games, knowledge of network programming is required. In some genres, e.g. fighting games, advanced network programming is often demanded, as the netcode and its properties are considered by players and critics to be some of the most important metrics of the game's quality. For massively multiplayer online games (MMOGs), even further knowledge of database programming and advanced networking programming are required. Though often engaged in by professional game programmers, there is a thriving scene of independent developers who lack a relationship with a publishing company.

Bit manipulation is the act of algorithmically manipulating bits or other pieces of data shorter than a word. Computer programming tasks that require bit manipulation include low-level device control, error detection and correction algorithms, data compression, encryption algorithms, and optimization. For most other tasks, modern programming languages allow the programmer to work directly with abstractions instead of bits that represent those abstractions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Emulator</span> System allowing a device to imitate another

In computing, an emulator is hardware or software that enables one computer system to behave like another computer system. An emulator typically enables the host system to run software or use peripheral devices designed for the guest system. Emulation refers to the ability of a computer program in an electronic device to emulate another program or device.

In computer programming and software development, debugging is the process of finding and resolving bugs within computer programs, software, or systems.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Computer architecture</span> Set of rules describing computer system

In computer science and computer engineering, computer architecture is a description of the structure of a computer system made from component parts. It can sometimes be a high-level description that ignores details of the implementation. At a more detailed level, the description may include the instruction set architecture design, microarchitecture design, logic design, and implementation.

A third-generation programming language (3GL) is a high-level computer programming language that tends to be more machine-independent and programmer-friendly than the machine code of the first-generation and assembly languages of the second-generation, while having a less specific focus to the fourth and fifth generations. Examples of common and historical third-generation programming languages are ALGOL, BASIC, C, COBOL, Fortran, Java, and Pascal.

References

  1. 1 2 "Computer Hope, Generation languages"
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Brookshear, J. Glenn (2012). Computer science : an overview (11th ed.). Addison-Wesley. pp. 240–241. ISBN   978-0-13-256903-3.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Vass, Péter. "Programming Language generations and Programming Paradigms" (PDF).
  4. 1 2 "What Are Programming Language Generations?". wiseGEEK. Retrieved 2019-06-11.
  5. ↑ "Top Computer Languages 2019 - StatisticsTimes.com". statisticstimes.com. Archived from the original on 2019-06-12. Retrieved 2019-06-11.
  6. ↑ Walls, Colin. "Why C is faster than assembly". Mentor, a Sieman's Business. Mentor Inc. Retrieved 11 June 2019.
  7. ↑ Commodore corporation. "C64 programmer's reference" (PDF). Commodore corporation. Retrieved 11 June 2019.
  8. ↑ Wikibooks contributors. "NES assembly". Wikibooks: NES Assembly. Retrieved 11 June 2019.{{cite web}}: |author1= has generic name (help)
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.