various languages for expressing a set of detailed instructions for a digital [compute computer programming language. Such instructions can be executed directly when they are in the computer manufacturer-specific numerical form known as [machine language, after a simple substitution process when expressed in a corresponding [assembly language, or after translation from some “higher-level” language. Although there are many computer languages, relatively few are widely used.
Machine and assembly languages are “low-level,” requiring a programmer to manage explicitly all of a computer’s [idiosyncraticfeatures of data storage and operation. In contrast, high-level languages shield a programmer from worrying about such considerations and provide a notation that is more easily written and read by programmers.
Machine language instructions typically use some bits to represent operations, such as addition, and some to represent operands, or perhaps the location of the next instruction. Machine language is difficult to read and write, since it does not resemble conventional mathematical notation or human language, and its codes vary from computer to computer.