Difference Between Assembly Language and High Level Language

If you are into computer science, you should know about Assembly language, Low-Level Language, High-level language, etc. Assembly language is a low-level language. There are many differences between assembly language and high-level languages. Starting from the writing styles to the functions, everything is dissimilar in both of the languages. 

If you want to know the Difference Between Assembly Language and High-Level Language, then keep going through the write-up from below. In the below guide, we will present everything you need to know about both language types.

What is Assembly language?

As we mentioned earlier, Assembly Language or Assembler Language represents a low-level programming language, and it is an integral part of computer science. Typically, assembly language includes basic instructions that a computer can easily recognize. If you have heard about the assembly language, you should have also heard about the term assembler. 

The Assembler is required for the conversion of the Assembly Language. That means the assembly code can be converted into machine language by employing the Assembler. The assembly language can be quite impossible to understand for usual people as it includes very few human-readable words and more mnemonic values.

Apart from the mnemic instructions, the code also includes meta-statements, data, and comments. The mnemic opcode will come first, and then there will be data, parameters, or arguments. It is considered low because the language is only used on the hardware level to define the interaction between the computer’s hardware. 

What is High-Level Language?

The high-level language means a group of computer programming languages which are human-readable and simplified. All the high-level language includes easy to understand syntax. Though you can easily understand or read a high-level programming language, the computer cannot do it. That is why high-level language needs to convert into machine language.

Some of the most common varieties of the high-level language include C++, C#, Objective C, Java, Python, Javascript. These languages are dissimilar compared to each other, but they are High-level language as it needs to be processed by an interpreter or compiler for the code execution. The compiler is like an assembler, and it works to process the language so that the machine can understand it. 

The high-level language may include natural language letters, mathematical symbols, and other symbols. They are designed for ease of use and faster implementation of the computer programs. When compared to the low levels, a high-level doesn’t require memorizing architecture, register, etc.

Difference Between Assembly Language and High Level Language

The assembly language and high-level programming language are two different things. And as follows, there are a good number of differences between the programming language. Check out the main dissimilarities between the assembly language and high-level language. 

Platforms

The assembly language and the other low-level languages are used for the hardware. They are mainly used for hardware configuration. One thing about the low-level language is they are not platform-independent. That means the source code of assembly language will only run on the specific hardware configuration. They will not work on different hardware or hardware configuration.

On the other hand, the high-level programming language can run on different hardware and hardware configuration. That is because the languages depend on the software of the device, not the hardware. However, though the languages are hardware-independent, it doesn’t mean that the language is independent of operating systems. 

Ease of Use

You should have already known that high-level languages are designed for better human readability from the earlier description. Almost all the high-level programming language consists of natural English language statements. On the other hand, the assembly language is based on a binary number. Apart from the binary number, there is also a variety of symbols called mnemonics.

Though the assembly language is easier to understand for the machine or systems, it is quite hard for humans. Specially, you cannot remember all the instruction sets of various architecture in the assembly language. You will also require to gain definitive knowledge about the architecture before learning the language. 

Any person can acquire high-level language skills with the least effort. It is also easy to write and modify. The low-level or assembly language is entirely dissimilar, pretty hard to understand and customize. 

Speed

Assembly language and machine language don’t include a few keywords, functions, libraries, and syntax. Moreover, they don’t need a compilation or interpretation of high-level languages. That is because low-level languages can directly interact with the hardware likes register and memory. That means assembly language is faster. 

 On the other hand, high-level languages include various functions, class, objects, libraries, syntaxes, etc. Besides, they are based on the natural English language statement that cannot directly interact with the hardware. A compiler or interpreter is a must for the interaction. Such characteristics make high-level language slower.

Memory Proficiency

As the assembly language is smaller in size than the high-level language, it requires fewer memories. We don’t need a run time environment, write many codes, and compile the codes. That is why the assembly language and low-level programming language are more memory efficient. 

The high-level language even requires some additional programs to run in the background for smoother implementation. These characteristics make the high-level language less memory efficient than the low-level language. 

Debugging

In the high-level language, we have various tools integrated with the compiler to detect the issues. That means almost all the syntactical errors can be recognized by the interpreter or compiler instantly. As a result, the high-level language is easy to maintain and debug.

On the other hand, as the low-level language works in an entirely different way without a compiler or interpreter, finding the errors and maintaining the code can be quite hard. A small syntax error in the low-level language can require hours to detect.  

Conclusion

Though both the high-level and assembly language has their pros and cons, both languages are critical for the ecosystem of computer technology. We require assembly for the hardware interaction and expansion when the high-level language is necessary to develop the computer programs.

Resources:

https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-difference-between-an-assembly-language-and-high-level-language