Computer Coding

The process of writing instructions for a computer to follow using a programming language is known as computer coding.

Uses of computer coding

Computer coding is used to create software that performs specific tasks. This software can be classified into two categories:

1. System Software: Manages the computer's hardware and provides a platform for running application software.
2. Application Software: Performs specific tasks for users, such as word processing, web browsing, or gaming.

Forms of computer coding

There are three forms of coding:

1. Machine code
2. Assembly
3. Programming languages

Machine code

1. Binary code that represents the instructions that directly tell the computer what to do.
2. The binary signals represent relevant electric signals given to hardware components.

Assembly

1. Also known as assembly language or assembler, it is a very fast and very low-level language that the computer can directly translate to machine code.
2. There are many different assembler types, and usually, many different CPUs have different assembler syntaxes.

Programming languages

1. The most used form of coding. Each programming language is a unique set of rules and syntax for expressing instructions that will eventually be turned into machine code and ran by the computer.
2. By the level of control, programming languages are split into two types:
   1. Low-level: These languages offer more control over the computer system and are usually faster, but are more complex to use.
   2. High-level: These languages are much more human-readable and easy to use, and offer more resources, but offer less control over the hardware and tend to be slower than low-level languages.
3. By the way of turning language syntax into machine code, programming languages are split into two main types:
   1. Compiled: These languages use compilers, which turn the entire source code into machine code to be directly used and ran by the computer.
   2. Interpreted: These languages use interpreters, which turn the individual instructions into machine code during runtime, one at a time.