Programming Concepts

Abstract

A computer program is a sequence of instructions, often a very long sequence, that can be held in a computer’s internal storage area (memory) and executed at speed. The instructions are normally first written down in a human-readable form, called the source code or program code, and entered into the computer’s memory or a computer file via the keyboard. The source code is written using a high-level programming language, such as Pascal, C, C++, Ada, COBOL. Instructions, written in these languages are referred to as program statements. This source code has to be translated into a form that can be understood by the electronics of the computer; this is known as the machine code and the translation process is called compilation.