Computer language: simply explained

What computer language is is explained quite simply. However, the term is often misinterpreted and interpreted too narrowly. If you are too embarrassed to ask a computer specialist, you will find an easily understandable explanation here.

Computer language - everything worth knowing simply explained

The term computer language encompasses all languages ​​that make interaction between humans and computers possible.

• We differentiate between languages ​​that are machine-readable and those that are human-readable.
• A processor can read machine-readable languages ​​immediately and consequently also execute the commands. Then there are so-called machine languages.
• Then there are the human-readable computer languages. These include programming languages, for example. These computer languages ​​use words and signs of human language - and a computer cannot read or interpret them.
• In order to make these computer languages ​​readable for the computer, they must first be translated into machine language. This can be done in real time using an interpreter or in advance using an assembler or a compiler.

"Speak" with the computer - there are endless languages

There is therefore no "one" computer language, as you now know from the explanation in the first section. Rather, there is a very long list of computer languages.

• The most well-known computer languages ​​are probably the programming languages ​​already mentioned. Listing them all would go beyond the scope. An overview of the most common programming languages ​​can be found in another practical tip.
• Script languages ​​are not translated into machine code beforehand by compilers. Here interpreters make the language readable for computers and thus the execution of actions possible, they are therefore one of the programming languages. The script languages ​​include Python and Javascript.
• Another form of programming languages ​​are the so-called high-level languages. Here programming is done in human-readable code, a compiler converts this code into machine language. Examples of a high-level language are C and C ++. You can also find the best compilers for C and C ++ here.
• Markup languages, on the other hand, do not implement programs and are therefore not converted into machine code. They are used, for example, to design documents so that a program can work with them. Classic examples of markup languages ​​are HTML, XML or CSS.
• Then there are database languages ​​like SQL. They are not directly part of the programming languages, but they control the computer when querying the database.

If you are curious and want to learn programming yourself, you will find valuable tips for beginners in our next practical tip.