About Programming language

 

Programming languages are the basis of computer science. It is quite literally the foundation that computers were built on, and the driving force of leading breakthroughs. According to (Ferguson, 2019)  “Ever since the invention of Charles Babbage’s difference engine in 1822, computers have required a means of instructing them to perform a specific task. This means is known as a programming language. Computer languages were first composed of a series of steps to wire a particular program; these morphed into a series of steps keyed into the computer and then executed; later these languages acquired advanced features such as logical branching and object orientation.” This was long before the computer we know today, however was the start of where we are today.

“At the hardware level, computers understand one language, called machine language (also called object code). This is the set of instructions supported by the computer's processor hardware and is specific to each type of processor. This object code language is numeric in nature and expressed in binary, which is a numeric coding made up of only 1s and 0s” (How Do Programming Languages Make Computers Work? | STEMRobotics, n.d.) when it comes to hardware, every piece relies on programming languages in some way to operate.   

When it comes to programming languages, there are literally thousands of different ones. However, most websites we use today utilize a select few. There are different kinds of programming languages that have different purposes. For example, in web design HTML forms the structure of the website, or the backend. Java is another language that is used on the front end of websites and is what brings the site to life.

Programming languages play a huge part in database management. One specific language known as SQL is a programming language that is specific in managing large data sets. “SQL allows you to query the database in a variety of ways, using English-like statements. It’s used on websites for back-end data storage and data processing solutions” (FutureLearn, 2021). Without SQL it would be impossible to be able to manage certain databases due to size. SQL has revolutionized the way data is stored and altered.

 

Ferguson, A. (2019). A History of Computer Programming Languages. Brown.edu. https://cs.brown.edu/~adf/programming_languages.html

How do programming languages make computers work? | STEMRobotics. (n.d.). Stemrobotics.cs.pdx.edu. https://stemrobotics.cs.pdx.edu/node/4208.html

FutureLearn. (2021, August 19). What is SQL used for? FutureLearn. https://www.futurelearn.com/info/blog/what-sql-used-for