Questão 1253644

Unfortunately, computers cannot understand ordinary spoken English or any other natural language. The only language they can understand directly is called machine code: central processors operate on codes which consist of a series of binary digits. In this form, the instructions are said to be in machine code.

However, machine code as a means of communication is very difficult to write. For this reason, we use symbolic languages that are easier to understand. Then, by using a special program, these languages can be translated into machine code. For example, assembly languages use abbreviations to represent instructions.

Basic languages, where the program is similar to the machine code version, are known as low-level languages. In these languages, each instruction is equivalent to a single machine code instruction, and the program is converted into machine code by a special program called an assembler. These languages are still quite complex and restricted to particular machines.

To make the programs easier to write and to overcome the problem of intercommunication between different types of machines, higher-level languages were designed. These languages are all problem-oriented rather than machine-oriented and can all be converted into the machine codes of different types of computers. Programs written in one of these languages are converted into a low-level language by means of a compiler. On compilation, each statement in a high-level language is generally translated into many machine code instructions.

BASIC is a general-purpose high-level programming language, originally designed to develop programs in conversational mode. This language is found on most microcomputers because it is user-friendly and easy to learn. It allows the user to interact with the program while it is being executed, which means that data can be input while the program is running. Each instruction is given a line number which defines the logical sequence of statements within the program.

People communicate instructions to the computer in symbolic languages and the easier this communication can be made the wider the applications of computers will be. Scientists are already working on Artificial Intelligence and the next generation of computers may be able to understand human languages.

(From ESTERAS, Santiago R. Infotech. English for computer users. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997, p.104/110, adapted.)

Machine code is a means of conveying