Translator Programs

Computers can only execute machine code which is in binary. We will look at two types of translator programs, these are programs that convert program code into machine code.

Writing programs in binary can be very difficult so there are a large variety of programming languages - most are written for specific purposes. Some are shown below along with a screenshot of some Python source code.

These types of languages are known as High Level Languages.

There are lots of different types, all covering different areas. Some are shown below:

• General Purpose Languages - Pascal, C, C++, Python, Java

• Artificial Intelligence - PROLOG (PROgramming in LOGic), LISP

• Operating Systems - C, C++, C#

• App Development - Swift

• There are certain features to be aware of when using High Level Languages

• They are easier to write and understand than using assembly/machine code

• Easier to spot and fix errors (debugging)

• There are languages written for specific purposes so specific operations may be possible

• High Level Languages are portable ( can run on different platforms)

• They need to be translated into machine code for a system to execute them.

These commands are slightly easier to remember than machine code (but only just). Their main disadvantage is still lack of portability and can still be quite time consuming to debug.

So because of these problems, programming languages closer to the English language have been developed.

These languages, which use English-like phrases such as Print, For, If, Then and Else, are called High Level Languages.

Assembly language needs an assembler but that will not be needed for the course.

Interpreters translate then execute a single line of your programming source code at a time. This what you will use when developing Python later in the course.

They are usually used during development whilst code is still being tested and debugged.

Compilers translate the entire source code program and turn it into an executable program that can be saved and ran at any point.

This has advantages in that it will never need to be translated again so subsequently it will run faster. It also saves the program as machine code so no one else can modify or see your source code.