Languages and Translators

Question 1

What is a high-level language?

Answer 1

A language that is programmer friendly. It is easy for humans to understand, debug and maintain

Question 2

What type of translator does a HL language need?

Answer 2

Needs a compiler or interpreter to translate into machine code

Question 3

What are some examples of HL languages?

Answer 3

Python
JavaScript
C#
C++
Ruby

Question 4

What are the advantages of HL languages?

Answer 4

Hardware independent; can run on any system and are easily portable from one device to another

Little to no hardware knowledge is required to write programs

Syntax very similar to English language, therefore easier to write, understand and debug

Question 5

What are the disadvantages of HL languages?

Answer 5

Not memory efficient -> consumes more memory than LL languages

Must be compiled/interpreted before it can be run

Question 6

What is a low-level language?

Answer 6

A language that is machine-friendly. It is difficult for humans to understand, but easy for a machine to interpret

Question 7

What type of translator do LL languages require?

Answer 7

Needs an assembler for direct translation of the language instructions

Question 8

What are the examples of LL languages?

Answer 8

Machine language
Assembly language

Question 9

What are the advantages of LL languages?

Answer 9

Memory efficient
Execute very quickly

Question 10

What are the disadvantages of LL languages?

Answer 10

Hard for humans to read and knowledge of hardware is a prerequisite to write programs

Very machine-dependent and not portable between different devices

Question 11

What is machine code?

Answer 11

Binary representation of instructions in a format that the CPU can decode and execute

Question 12

What are the three types of translators?

Answer 12

Compiler
Interpreter
Assembler

Question 13

What does an Assembler do?

Answer 13

Translates assembly language into machine code

Converts basic commands and operations into binary code that can be understood by a specific type of processor

Question 14

What are the advantages of Assemblers?

Answer 14

Programs written in machine language can be replaced with mnemonics

Memory efficient

Speed of execution is faster

Hardware-oriented

Question 15

What are the disadvantages of Assemblers?

Answer 15

Takes a long time to write the program and it is difficult to remember syntax

Lack of portability between computers of different makes can not have the same assembler

Question 16

What does a compiler do?

Answer 16

Translates source code from HL languages into object code and then machine code

The whole program is translated into machine code before it is run

After compilation, the compiler provides an error report for the whole code

Question 17

What are the advantages of Compilers?

Answer 17

No need for translation when running

Speed of execution is faster than interpreted code

Provides an executable file so that the original code doesn’t need to be compiled again

Question 18

What are the disadvantages of Compilers?

Answer 18

The program will not run with syntax error, which makes it more difficult to write long code

Code needs to be recompiled when it is changed

Question 19

What is an Interpreter?

Answer 19

Translates source code from HL languages into machine code

The program is translated line by line as it runs

Stops execution as soon as an error is found

Question 20

What are the advantages of Interpreters?

Answer 20

Easy to write source code, as the program will always stop when it finds a syntax error

Code does not need to be recompiled when code is changed

Easier for beginner programmers to learn to code

Question 21

What are the disadvantages of Interpreters?

Answer 21

The interpreter must be installed to run the program

Takes longer to execute as the instruction is translated before it is executed

Source code will be interpreted every time it is run

Question 22

Which HL languages are interpreted?

Answer 22

Python and JavaScript

Question 23

Which HL languages are compiled?

Answer 23

C# and VB