What is a low-level computer language?

Answer 1

Computer languages vary in their complexity, speed and ease of use. The easiest languages to use are insulated very far from the hardware; these are "high level" languages. Low level languages are much "closer to the metal" of the computer i.e. they are very detailed, very complex and vary widely based on the hardware they are being used to program. Binary (the computers 'natural' language) and Assembly are examples of low-level languages as they vary widely from computer to computer.

Low level languages are great for speed in execution but are not portable (most likely unable to be run on different types of computers) and are tedious to use. An example:

Basic -

10 Print "Hello World"

Assembly -

name "hello-world"

org 100h

mov ax, 3

int 10h

mov ax, 1003h

mov bx, 0

int 10h

mov ax, 0b800h

mov ds, ax

mov [02h], 'H'

mov [04h], 'e'

mov [06h], 'l'

mov [08h], 'l'

mov [0ah], 'o'

mov [0ch], ','

mov [0eh], 'W'

mov [10h], 'o'

mov [12h], 'r'

mov [14h], 'l'

mov [16h], 'd'

mov cx, 12

mov di, 03h

a: mov [di], 11101100b

add di, 2

loop a

mov ah, 0

int 16h

ret