Computer program: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 17:35, 2 July 2025

Revision as of 08:59, 25 July 2025

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{{Short description|Instructions a computer can execute}}

[[File:JavaScript_code.png|thumb|[[Source code]] for a computer program written in the [[JavaScript]] language. It demonstrates the ''appendChild'' method. The method adds a new child node to an existing parent node. It is commonly used to dynamically modify the structure of an HTML document.]][[A]] '''computer program''' is a [[sequence]] or set{{efn|The [[Prolog]] language allows for a database of facts and rules to be entered in any order. However, a question about a database must be at the very end.}} of instructions in a [[programming language]] for a [[computer]] to [[Execution (computing)|execute]]. It is one component of [[software]], which also includes [[software documentation|documentation]] and other intangible components.<ref name="ISO 2020">{{cite web

{{for|the TV program|The Computer Programme{{!}}''The Computer Programme''}}

[[File:JavaScript_code.png|thumb|[[Source code]] for a computer program written in the [[JavaScript]] language. It demonstrates the ''appendChild'' method. The method adds a new child node to an existing parent node. It is commonly used to dynamically modify the structure of an HTML document.]]

{{Program execution}}

A '''computer program''' is a [[sequence]] or set{{efn|The [[Prolog]] language allows for a database of facts and rules to be entered in any order. However, a question about a database must be at the very end.}} of instructions in a [[programming language]] for a [[computer]] to [[Execution (computing)|execute]]. It is one component of [[software]], which also includes [[software documentation|documentation]] and other intangible components.<ref name="ISO 2020">{{cite web

| title=ISO/IEC 2382:2015

| website=ISO

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}}</ref>

A ''computer program'' in its [[human-readable]] form is called [[source code]]. Source code needs another computer program to [[Execution (computing)|execute]] because computers can only execute their native [[machine instructions]]. Therefore, source code may be [[Translator (computing)|translated]] to machine instructions using a [[compiler]] written for the language. ([[Assembly language]] programs are translated using an [[Assembler (computing)|assembler]].) The resulting file is called an [[executable]]. Alternatively, source code may execute within an [[interpreter (computing)|interpreter]] written for the language.<ref name="cpl_3rd-ch1-7_quoted">{{cite book

| last = Wilson

| first = Leslie B.

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}}</ref>

If the executable is requested for execution, then the [[operating system]] [[Loader (computing)|loads]] it into [[Random-access memory|memory]] and starts a [[Process (computing)|process]].<ref name="osc-ch4-p98">{{cite book

| last = Silberschatz

| first = Abraham

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| page = 98

| isbn = 978-0-201-50480-4

}}</ref> The [[central processing unit]] will soon [[Context switch|switch]] to this process so it can [[Instruction cycle|fetch, decode, and then execute]] each machine instruction.<ref name="sco-ch2-p32">{{cite book

| last = Tanenbaum

| first = Andrew S.