Programming Language

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What Does Programming Language Mean?

A programming language is a computer language engineered to create a standard form of commands. These commands can be interpreted into a code understood by a machine. Programs are created through programming languages to control the behavior and output of a machine through accurate algorithms, similar to the human communication process.

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A programming language is also known as a programming system, computer language or computer system.

Techopedia Explains Programming Language

A programming language is typically divided into two elements: syntax and semantics. There is pretty much always a specification document to define both elements. For example, an ISO standard defines C, while Perl has a dominant implementation used as a reference.

An algorithm is described using the programming language. Programming languages are typically called computer languages; however, some authors deem programming languages to be subsets of computer languages. Since the oldest forms of programming languages like COBOL and FORTRAN, thousands of computer languages have been developed.

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Margaret Rouse
Technology Specialist
Margaret Rouse
Technology Specialist

Margaret is an award-winning writer and educator known for her ability to explain complex technical topics to a non-technical business audience. Over the past twenty years, her IT definitions have been published by Que in an encyclopedia of technology terms and cited in articles in the New York Times, Time Magazine, USA Today, ZDNet, PC Magazine, and Discovery Magazine. She joined Techopedia in 2011. Margaret’s idea of ​​a fun day is to help IT and business professionals to learn to speak each other’s highly specialized languages.