In Dartmouth College, USA, a simplified language was developed. It was based on Fortran and was designed as a simpler language and easier to learn. This language was called Basic (Beginners’ All purpose Symbolic Instruction Code) and first appeared in 1960 . In the early days, the emphasis was on ‘easy to learn’ and ‘using …
In assembly language, we used an assembler program to convert the mnemonics to machine code. We usually refer to the conversions being from source code to object code but it means the same thing. In Fortran, or any high-level language, we use a compiler to produce the machine code. The compiler will also carry out …
In the early days of computers, they were seen as a means of improving the speed and accuracy of performing mathematical calculations – rather as new and improved calculating machines. IBM dominated the computer world at that time and employed John Backus to produce an improved language to supersede assembly language. The result, finalized in …
The third-generation languages were intended to make life easier. They were designed to improve the readability by using English words which would make it easier to understand and to sort out any faults (bugs) in the program. The process of removing bugs is called debugging. In addition, they should relieve the programmer of any need …
Assembly language was designed to do the same work as machine code but be much easier to use. It replaced all the ones and zeros withletters that were easier to remember but it is still a low-level language.
The binary code that is understood by the microprocessor is called machine code and consists of streams of binary bits. They are fed fromthe RAM or ROM memory chips in blocks of 8, 16, 32 or 64 depending on the microprocessor in use. To us the binary stream is total gibberish.
Basic microprocessor systems Binary – the way micros count Hexadecimal – the way we communicate with micros How micros calculate An introduction to logic gates and their uses Opening and closing gates What decides the output voltage? The NOT gate A truth table AND gate The NAND gate The OR gate The NOR gate The …