Term of the Moment
hyperconnected
Definition: machine language
The native language of the computer. In order for a program to run, it must be presented to the computer as binary-coded machine instructions that are specific to that CPU family. Although programmers are sometimes able to modify machine language in order to fix a running program (see patch), they do not create it. Machine language is generated by software called "assemblers," "compilers" and "interpreters." These conversion programs turn either the programmer's source code or an intermediate language generated from the source code into machine language (machine code). See assembly language, compiler and interpreter.
What and Where
Machine language tells the computer what to do and where to do it. For example, when a programmer writes TOTAL = TOTAL + SUBTOTAL, that statement is converted into a machine instruction that tells the computer to add the contents of specific bytes in memory where TOTAL and SUBTOTAL are stored and put the result in TOTAL.
Logical vs. Physical
A programmer deals with data logically, "add this, subtract that," but the computer must be told precisely which memory locations this and that are located.
From Description to Machine Language
Software is also available that lets people merely describe a problem and have it turned into machine language (executable code). Program generators and AI-assisted coding take the tedium out of programming, and although the resulting machine language is often considerable larger, today's fast computers are able to absorb the additional machine language and overhead that is required (see abstraction layer). See hardware platform.
What and Where
Machine language tells the computer what to do and where to do it. For example, when a programmer writes TOTAL = TOTAL + SUBTOTAL, that statement is converted into a machine instruction that tells the computer to add the contents of specific bytes in memory where TOTAL and SUBTOTAL are stored and put the result in TOTAL.
Logical vs. Physical
A programmer deals with data logically, "add this, subtract that," but the computer must be told precisely which memory locations this and that are located.
From Description to Machine Language
Software is also available that lets people merely describe a problem and have it turned into machine language (executable code). Program generators and AI-assisted coding take the tedium out of programming, and although the resulting machine language is often considerable larger, today's fast computers are able to absorb the additional machine language and overhead that is required (see abstraction layer). See hardware platform.