High-level programming language: Difference between revisions

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== Features ==

{{unreferenced section|date=August 2023}}

# "High-level language" refers to the higher level of abstraction from [[machine language]]. Rather than dealing with registers, memory addresses, and call stacks, high-level languages deal with variables, arrays, [[object (computer science)|object]]s, complex arithmetic or Boolean expressions, subroutines and functions, loops, [[Thread (computer science)|thread]]s, locks, and other abstract computer science concepts, with a focus on [[usability]] over optimal program efficiency. Unlike low-level [[assembly language]]s, high-level languages have few, if any, language elements that translate directly into a machine's native [[opcode]]s. Other features, such as string handling routines, object-oriented language features, and file input/output, may also be present. One thing to note about high-level programming languages is that these languages allow the programmer to be detached and separated from the machine. That is, unlike low-level languages like assembly or machine language, high-level programming can amplify the programmer's instructions and trigger a lot of data movements in the background without their knowledge. The responsibility and power of executing instructions have been handed over to the machine from the programmer.

# "High-level language" refers to the higher level of abstraction from [[machine language]]. Rather than dealing with registers, memory addresses, and call stacks, high-level languages deal with variables, arrays, [[object (computer science)|object]]s, complex arithmetic or Boolean expressions, subroutines and functions, loops, [[Thread (computer science)|thread]]s, locks, and other abstract computer science concepts, with a focus on [[usability]] over optimal program efficiency. Unlike low-level [[assembly language]]s, high-level languages have few, if any, language elements that translate directly into a machine's native [[opcode]]s. Other features, such as string handling routines, object-oriented language features, and file input/output, may also be present. One thing to note about high-level programming languages is that these languages allow the programmer to be detached and separated from the machine. That is, unlike low-level languages like assembly or machine language, high-level programming can amplify the programmer's instructions and trigger a lot of data movements in the background without their knowledge. The responsibility and power of executing instructions have been handed over to the machine from the programmer.

== Abstraction penalty ==

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| pages = 367

| publisher = Springer

}}</ref> For this reason, code which needs to run particularly quickly and efficiently may require the use of a lower-level language, even if a higher-level language would make the coding easier. In many cases, critical portions of a program mostly in a hig''hhigh-level language can be hand-coded in [[assembly language]], leading to a much faster, more efficient, or simply reliably functioning [[Program optimisation|optimised program]].''

''However, with the growing complexity of modern [[microprocessor]] architectures, well-designed compilers for high-level languages frequently produce code comparable in efficiency to what most low-level programmers can produce by hand, and the higher'' abstraction may allow for more powerful techniques providing better overall results than their low-level counterparts in particular settings.<ref>

{{Cite journal

|author1=Manuel Carro |author2=José F. Morales |author3=Henk L. Muller |author4=G. Puebla |author5=M. Hermenegildo | journal = Proceedings of the 2006 International Conference on Compilers, Architecture and Synthesis for Embedded Systems