Programming language

A programming language (/ˈproʊɡræmɪŋ ˈlæŋɡwɪdʒ/) is a formal language comprising a set of instructions that produce various kinds of output. Programming languages are used in computer programming to implement algorithms.

Etymology

The term "programming language" is believed to have been first used in the late 1950s. Its etymology is straightforward, combining "programming", from the practice of creating a detailed plan or script for a radio or television broadcast, and "language", from the Latin lingua, meaning "tongue" or "speech".

Types of programming languages

There are many types of programming languages, including:

Procedural programming language: A type of programming language that uses a step-by-step approach to problem-solving.
Object-oriented programming language: A type of programming language that uses a system of organizing programs into objects that can interact with each other.
Functional programming language: A type of programming language that treats computation as the evaluation of mathematical functions and avoids changing-state and mutable data.
Scripting language: A type of programming language that supports scripts, programs written for a special run-time environment that automate the execution of tasks.

Related terms

Algorithm: A set of rules to be followed in calculations or other problem-solving operations, especially by a computer.
Compiler: A program that translates high-level language to low-level language.
Interpreter: A program that directly executes instructions written in a programming or scripting language without requiring them previously to have been compiled into a machine language program.
Syntax (programming languages): The set of rules that defines the combinations of symbols that are considered to be correctly structured programs in that language.
Semantics (computer science): The field concerned with the rigorous mathematical study of the meaning of programming languages.

External links

Medical encyclopedia article on Programming language
Wikipedia's article - Programming language

This WikiMD dictionary article is a stub. You can help make it a full article.

Languages: - East Asian 中文, 日本, 한국어, South Asian हिन्दी, Urdu, বাংলা, తెలుగు, தமிழ், ಕನ್ನಡ,
Southeast Asian Indonesian, Vietnamese, Thai, မြန်မာဘာသာ, European español, Deutsch, français, русский, português do Brasil, Italian, polski

Programming language