3.4 - Principles of Programming

• High level languages use meaningful identifiers close to natural language and are easier to understand
• Instructions in high level languages are translated into many machine code instructions
• High level languages have no direct access to registers and instructions are semantic, so they do not reflect processor design
• Low level languages are machine oriented allowing for the direct manipulation of registers and CPU resources
• Programmers using low level languages design software with the architecture of the CPU in mind, rather than the actual problem
• A low level language instruction maps to a single machine code instruction
• Low level languages are more complex to program in than high level languages
• A programming paradigm is the fundamental structure of a programming language
• Procedural Programming

  • Works sequentially, performing a series of commands intended to be run one after the other
  • Uses variable assignment, IF Statements, Iteration and Procedures
  • Modularity can be introduced through procedures
  • E.g. Python, C