high-level language


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Related to high-level language: assembly language, machine language

high-level language

a computer programming language that resembles natural language or mathematical notation and is designed to reflect the requirements of a problem; examples include Ada, BASIC, C, COBOL, FORTRAN, Pascal
Collins Discovery Encyclopedia, 1st edition © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

high-level language

[′hī ‚lev·əl ′laŋ·gwij]
(computer science)
A computer language whose instructions or statements each correspond to several machine language instructions, designed to make coding easier. Also known as higher-level language; higher-order language.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms, 6E, Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

high-level language

(HLL) A programming language which provides some level of abstraction above assembly language. These normally use statements consisting of English-like keywords such as "FOR", "PRINT" or "GOTO", where each statement corresponds to several machine language instructions. It is much easier to program in a high-level language than in assembly language though the efficiency of execution depends on how good the compiler or interpreter is at optimising the program.

Rarely, the variants "VHLL" and "MLL" are found.

See also languages of choice, generation.
This article is provided by FOLDOC - Free Online Dictionary of Computing (foldoc.org)

high-level language

A machine-independent programming language, such as C, C++, Java, Perl and COBOL. It lets the programmer concentrate on the logic of the problem to be solved rather than the intricacies of the machine architecture such as is required with low-level assembly languages.

There are dramatic differences between high-level languages. Look up the programming language terms such as BASIC, C and Java and review the sample code. What is considered high level also depends on the era. There were assembly languages 50 years ago that were easier to use than many high-level languages today. Contrast with assembly language and machine language. See programming language, C, BASIC and Java.
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This high-level language is based on the Problem Space Computational Model (PSCM) and is represented using the Extensible Markup Language (XML).
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EPOC was designed to be ROM-based and portable across CPUs by simple rebuilds in high-level language. For mobile devices there is no standard size for screen size, keyboard, buttons or pointer equipment, EPOC is designed to separate the GUI from the unde rlying engine, allowing manufacturers to modify the GUI to suit their requirements.
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This results in compelling reports that (1) show clearly that statements and branches have been exercised in the assembler code and (2) cross-correlate the results between the high-level language and assembler.
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This second volume in the series describes methods for choosing high-level language (HLL) statements to create the most efficient machine code when using a modern optimizing compiler.
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In a more specific area, researchers at The MathWorks, Natick, Mass., and Cornell Theory Center (CTC), Ithaca, N.Y., have recently parallelized the popular graphics-based high-level language and problem-solving program, MATLAB, by using a message passing interface (MPI).
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Python's extensibility has been used to efficiently handle the data formats and I/O devices needed for audio, image and video processing without losing the advantages of using a very high-level language (e.g., powerful string-handling operations, shorter and clearer code, and a much faster edit-run cycle).
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In addition to extended high-level language support for the PPC processor range, the LDRA tool suite for PPC Assemblers may be used to demonstrate source-to-object-code traceability.
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Programming courses are even better when they teach a suitable high-level language. Our introductory courses use Lisp.
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Many high-level language implementations use the analogue of the following set of representations, the least-absolute residue (LAR) system:
Technical correspondence

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