Welcome to interpreted and compiled programming languages! After watching this video, you will be able to: Identify interpreted programming languages, and identify compiled programming languages. What are programming languages? Programming languages help us tell computers what to do. Computers don’t use human language; they use their own language, called machine code. Machines understand binary code, that is 1s and 0s. So, to make communicating with computers easier, we have human-readable programming languages. Two common categories for programming languages are: Interpreted and compiled. These are broad categories, and there are many programming languages that are classified under compiled languages and interpreted languages. The purpose of the project helps a developer determine which programming language is best. Interpreted language is also commonly referred to as scripted or scripting language. Programs written in interpreted or scripted language, like Python and HTML, run through the programming interpreter on your computer’s operating system or in your web browser. Remember that programming languages are in human-readable code, so, the interpreter takes the human-readable scripted code and then translates it into machine code, enabling the computer to complete the requested task. As computers and web pages have changed and advanced, some interpreted programming languages are outdated, and they are not as useful or relevant Some other languages are more versatile and easier to learn, which means they are preferred over other scripting languages and used more often. All interpreted programming languages need an interpreter to translate the source code. Translators are built into your web browser or they require a program on your computer to translate the code. Several different interpreted programming languages exist. Some examples of common interpreted programming language types are: • JavaScript, a simpler scripting language that runs through the web browser interpreter • Python, a language that is popular because it is easy to learn and use for developers • Lua, a general purpose, lightweight game scripting language that is easy to learn and use • HTML, a markup language used for formatting web pages Another category of programming languages is the compiled programming languages. Compiled programs are applications and programs, like your music app or your operating system, that you run on your computer or device. The programs are packaged --or compiled-- into one executable file. They are usually larger programs. Compiled programs are used to help solve more challenging problems, like interpreting source code. Compiled programming languages are often referred to more simply as programming languages. A compiler program creates a program file, which runs the software. Simply put: It piles the code into one file that runs when you double-click on the app on your device. The program runs faster and it can be done repeatedly. The source code is converted from the programming language to machine code. Then it is compiled into one executable file. Finally, the program runs when you select the icon or file on your device. Some examples of compiled programming languages are: C and its variations C++ and C#, which are used in many operating systems, like Microsoft Windows, Apple’s macOS, and the open-source operating system Linux. Java is another compiled programming language. It shouldn’t be confused with the interpreted language JavaScript. The Android OS is written in Java because it works well across computing platforms. Let’s look at this process: When you update to a new version of your operating system, like Microsoft Windows, your device might download an installation program. That program is made up of many files. The files are written in a compiled programming language. These files give instructions to your device in machine code. The compiled program is running on your device. A compiled program that you commonly use is your device’s operating system, such as Linux, Microsoft Windows, Apple’s macOS, or Android. Your operating system is written in a compiled programming language, like C, C++, C#, or Java. In this video, you learned that: Interpreted programming languages run scripts that are repetitive and need to be run often. Interpreted programming languages are more versatile and can be used across platforms as long as there is the correct interpreter. Some examples of interpreted programming languages are JavaScript, Python, and HTML. Compiled programming languages are for more complex programs that complete larger tasks. Compiled programming languages are used for creating executable files that can run directly from your device. And some examples of compiled programming languages are C and Java.
