Programming language: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 12:50, 9 July 2025

Revision as of 13:04, 9 July 2025

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[[File:C Hello World Program.png|thumb|right|upright=1.3|The [[source code]] for a computer program in [[C (programming language)|C]]. The gray lines are [[comment (computer programming)|comments]] that explain the program to humans. When [[compiled]] and [[Execution (computing)|run]], it will give the output "[["Hello, World!" program|Hello, world!]]".]]

A '''programming language''' is a system of notation for writing [[source code]] such as used to produce a [[computer program]].<ref name="Aaby 2004">{{cite book |last=Aaby |first=Anthony |url=http://www.emu.edu.tr/aelci/Courses/D-318/D-318-Files/plbook/intro.htm |title=Introduction to Programming Languages |year=2004 |access-date=29 September 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121108043216/http://www.emu.edu.tr/aelci/Courses/D-318/D-318-Files/plbook/intro.htm |archive-date=8 November 2012 |url-status=dead}}</ref> A language can be described in terms of [[Syntax (programming languages)|syntax]] (form) and [[semantics (computer science)|semantics]] (meaning), and often is defined via a [[formal language]] specification. A language may provide many features to the [[programmer]] and basic features found in most languages include [[type system]], [[Variable (computer science)|variables]], and [[Exception handling (programming)|error handling]]. A language allows a programmer to a [[Software development|develop]] [[Human-readable|human readable]] artifacts that can be consumed by a computer but only after translation via an automated process that enables source code to be [[Execution (computing)|executable]]. Historically, a [[compiler]] translates source code into [[machine code]] that is directly runnable by a computer, and an [[Interpreter (computing)|interpreter]] executes source code without converting to machine code. Today, hybrid technologies exist such as compiling to an intermediate form (such as [[bytecode]]) which is later interpreted or [[Just-in-time compilation|just-in-time compiled]] to machine code before running.

[[Computer architecture]] has strongly influenced the design of programming languages, with the most common type ([[imperative languages]]) developed to perform well on the popular [[von Neumann architecture]]. While early programming languages were closely tied to the [[Computer hardware|hardware]], modern languages hide hardware details via [[abstraction (computer science)|abstraction]] in an effort to enable better software with less effort.

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Some of the new programming languages are classified as [[visual programming languages]] like [[Scratch_(programming_language)|Scratch]], [[LabVIEW]] and [[PWCT]]. Also, some of these languages mix between textual and visual programming usage like [[Ballerina (programming language)|Ballerina]].<ref>Sáez-López, J.M., Román-González, M. and Vázquez-Cano, E., 2016. Visual programming languages integrated across the curriculum in elementary school: A two year case study using “Scratch” in five schools. Computers & Education, 97, pp.129-141.</ref><ref>Fayed, M.S., Al-Qurishi, M., Alamri, A. and Al-Daraiseh, A.A., 2017, March. PWCT: visual language for IoT and cloud computing applications and systems. In Proceedings of the Second International Conference on Internet of things, Data and Cloud Computing (pp. 1-5).</ref><ref>Kodosky, J., 2020. LabVIEW. Proceedings of the ACM on Programming Languages, 4(HOPL), pp.1-54.</ref><ref>Fernando, A. and Warusawithana, L., 2020. Beginning Ballerina Programming: From Novice to Professional. Apress.</ref> Also, this trend lead to developing projects that help in developing new VPLs like [[Blockly]] by [[Google]].<ref>Baluprithviraj, K.N., Bharathi, K.R., Chendhuran, S. and Lokeshwaran, P., 2021, March. Artificial intelligence based smart door with face mask detection. In 2021 International Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Smart Systems (ICAIS) (pp. 543-548). IEEE.</ref> Many game engines like [[Unreal Engine|Unreal]] and [[Unity (game engine)|Unity]] added support for visual scripting too.<ref>Sewell, B., 2015. Blueprints visual scripting for unreal engine. Packt Publishing Ltd.</ref><ref>Bertolini, L., 2018. Hands-On Game Development without Coding: Create 2D and 3D games with Visual Scripting in Unity. Packt Publishing Ltd.</ref>

==ElementsDefinition==

Every programming language includes fundamental elements for describing data and the operations or transformations applied to them, such as adding two numbers or selecting an item from a collection. These elements are governed by syntactic and semantic rules that define their structure and meaning, respectively.

A language can be defined in terms of [[Syntax (programming languages)|syntax]] (form) and [[semantics (computer science)|semantics]] (meaning), and often is defined via a [[formal language]] specification.

===Syntax===

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Once data has been specified, the machine must be instructed to perform operations on the data. For example, the semantics may define the [[evaluation strategy|strategy]] by which expressions are evaluated to values, or the manner in which [[control flow|control structures]] conditionally execute [[Statement (computer science)|statements]]. The ''dynamic semantics'' (also known as ''execution semantics'') of a language defines how and when the various constructs of a language should produce a program behavior. There are many ways of defining execution semantics. Natural language is often used to specify the execution semantics of languages commonly used in practice. A significant amount of academic research goes into [[formal semantics of programming languages]], which allows execution semantics to be specified in a formal manner. Results from this field of research have seen limited application to programming language design and implementation outside academia.<ref name=":1" />

==Features==

A language provides features for the [[programmer]] for develop software. Some notable features are described below.

===Type system===