Basics Flashcards
Computer program
A series of instructions. A sequence of small commands, one after the other.
statements
what you write in the code. think of it like a sentence in english
does a computer understand python or java?
No, what machines really understand is called “machine code”
why don’t we write in machine code?
It’s too complex for anyone to really understand…too difficult.
It is 100% possible for humans to write machine code. But the process would take too long.
low level code vs. higher level code
what is more difficult?
generally speaking, the close that a programming language is to the MACHINE CODE, the more difficult it is to write
low level code = close to MACHINE CODE
assembly language
programming language that is very close to machine code
lower level language
close to machine code
higher level language
not close to machine code
how does higher level language differ from lower level language in terms of HARDWARE?
higher level languages such as javascript DO NOT worry about hardware. lower level languages such as C worry about optimizing the hardware.
rank lowest to highest level code
python, ruby, C++, C, JAVA, Javascript, C#
C, C++, JAVA/C#, Ruby/Python, Javascript
source code
the code you write that will later be turned into machine code
IDE
Integrated development environment
Integrated development environment
a program to write code. It’s basically like a text editor with a few hand features.
Xcode for the Mac, MS Visual studio, etc…
interpreted vs. compile language
interpreted is often a high level programming language
compiler is often low level
interpreted languages is code that is sent to your computer and processed on the spot in real time (Flash, javascript) whereas compiled language is stored on your computer for later use (Apps, etc..)
compiled language
pros
- ready to run
- often faster
- code is private
