Programming languages are used for the development of the computer programs and interactions between hardware and software of a computer system. There are two types of programming languages which are high-level languages and low-level languages. Understanding both types of language are essential for further study of computer science.
If you want to acknowledge yourself with programming languages, then the first thing you need to know about the Difference Between High Level Languages and Low Level Language.
In this write-up, we will discuss the differences between high-level and low-level programming languages in brief.
Difference between high level language and low level language
The high level and low-level programming languages are completely different from each other. Starting from the usage to the syntax, you will find a variety of differences between the types of programming language. Below, we will describe the main differences between the languages.
Definition
Before we began, let’s understand the meaning of the high-level programming language and low-level programming language.
High-Level Programming Language
The high-level language is based on the natural language characters we use every day. Apart from the natural language characters, high-level language includes various real-world scenarios, mathematical symbols, etc. High-level language requires an interpreter or a compiler to be understood by the computer.
That means a human being can easily read the high-level programming language. The primary implementation of the high-level programming language is for the development of computer programs. Some of the examples of high-level language include Java, Python, C Language, C++, FORTRAN, BASIC, etc.
Low-Level Programming Language
The Low-Level Programming Language is another type of programming language. It is termed as “low” because it works on the hardware levels. The main usage of the low-level language is its uses for the hardware interaction of the computer systems. Examples of the low-level programming language include machine language and the assembly language.
The low-level language requires a broad knowledge of the specific hardware and its configuration. A low-level language for specific hardware cannot be used on different hardware. A low-level language is based on the binary numbers which consist only 0 and 1.
Platform
As we said earlier, the low-level computer programming languages are used for the interaction between the computer hardware. They are not platform-independent as the low-level language for a specific hardware and hardware configuration cannot be used on the different hardware. The low-level language varies depending on the register and architecture.
The high-level language is platform-independent as you run the language on the dissimilar hardware configuration. That is because they don’t interact with the hardware directly. Instead, they use a compiler to be read by the system. However, the high-level language for a specific Operating System may not be suitable for a different OS.
Efficiency
When it comes to memory efficiency, the low-level language will beat the high-level languages easily. That is because the low-level language doesn’t require any runtime environment and they can directly interact with hardware. Moreover, the low-level language is small in size when compared with the high-level languages.
On the other hand, high-level languages must require a runtime environment to interact with the system. Some other apps also run in the background including the compiler or interpreter to let you compile and debug the code. That means these high-level languages require more memory than the low-level languages.
Speed
Low-level languages require less syntax, functions, classes, as the code is written in binary (using only 0 and 1 digit). More so, the low-level languages don’t need to be compiled or interpreted like the high-level language. As the low-level languages directly interact with the registers and memory and don’t need to be translated, it is faster.
As the high-level language is based on the natural language, which means it includes a large variety of syntax, functions, objects, libraries, keywords, and much more. More so, they require an interpreter or compiler to be translated into machine language so that the hardware can understand. Such characteristics make high-level language comparatively slower.
Ease of Use
The High-level language is pretty easy to read when compared with the low-level language as the high-level languages resemble natural linguistics. That means you can easily understand, read, write, or modify the high-level language. Even if you don’t understand the technical meaning of the syntaxes, at least you will find it familiar.
Besides, the low-level languages are based on high 0 and 1 (binary language). It can be quite hard to understand the meaning of the low-level language for a person who doesn’t know about binary. Moreover, the low-level languages change with different hardware architecture and configuration which make them hard to grasp.
Compatibility
The low-level languages are designed for a particular system. That means the low-level language is machine-dependent and you simply cannot use a low-level language designed for a hardware architecture on a different hardware configuration.
The high-level language can be used on different hardware as it is not hardware dependent. Based on the availability of the compiler or interpreter for the hardware, you can use the language on any hardware. The compiler or interpreter will convert it to the to machine language depending on the configuration.
Debugging
Though the low-level language is small in size and faster, it can be quite hard to find out the issues in a high-level programming language. Usually, the compiler of the high-level language includes a debugger which will find the syntax issues automatically. As there are no compilers for low-level languages, you will need to debug the problems manually which will be pretty time-consuming.
Uses
From the above discussion, you may already grasp that the low-level language is directly related to hardware concerns. Because of the characteristics like direct hardware communication, fastness, and no abstraction, low-level languages are employed for the development of embedded systems and Operating Systems.
The high-level language simply cannot be used for hardware interaction. These languages are used for producing all types of utility applications for the computer, websites, mobile applications, computer applications. Basically, you will require using the high-level language for developing any computer or mobile app.
Conclusion: High Level Languages vs Low Level Language.
Both the high-level language and low-level languages have their own importance in the development of the computer systems. Without the languages, we cannot even think of the growth or betterment of the operating systems and other applications.
Hopefully, the article will help you to acknowledge the Difference Between High Level Languages and Low Level Language.