What Is General-Purpose Programming Language?

What is a programming language?

A programming language is a language used to write computer programs. Programming languages can be used to create applications and software, and they're also used to create computer games. In order for computers to run these programs, they need instructions written in a particular way that tells them what steps to take. A programming language provides this instruction set in order for the machine's processor to follow along with what you want it to do.

General-purpose programming language

General-purpose programming language is a high-level programming language that can be used to create software applications, libraries and devices. It is also called a general-purpose programming language because it can be used for any type of programming, including business, scientific and engineering applications.

General-purpose languages are designed to be used by multiple programmers on different platforms (such as Windows or Linux). This makes them very useful in large organizations where the same code is written on many machines with different operating systems.

First generation programming languages

A programming language is a set of rules and instructions that allow you to communicate with the computer. A general-purpose programming language is one that can be used for any purpose, whereas domain-specific languages are designed for specific tasks in a specific field.

First generation programming languages were developed during the 1950s and 1960s. These include Assembly languages like FORTRAN (1957) and COBOL (1959), which were designed specifically for use by scientists and engineers; they are usually compiled into machine code on an assembly line, rather than translated directly into CPU instructions as modern high-level programming languages do. Second generation was introduced in the 1960s by IBM and other mainframe manufacturers such as Honeywell, Burroughs Corporation, CDC (Control Data Corporation), GE Information Services Division (formerly General Electric Computer Department) using COBOL II syntax with extensions to support structured programming constructs such as DO WHILE loops or WHILE THEN statements; this second generation also includes PL/I from IBM that was released in 1968 where it introduced module structure design for large projects along with CASE statements similar to those found today in Ada 95

Second generation programming languages

Second generation programming languages are a class of programming languages that emerged in the 1960s and 1970s. They were influenced by first generation programming languages (such as FORTRAN, COBOL and BASIC) but they introduced significant new concepts while improving on the limitations of their predecessors.

Second generation languages are generally considered to include:

• Ada (1980)

• C++ (1983)

• Modula-2 (1982)

• Simula 67 (1967)

Third generation programming languages

Third-generation programming languages (3GL) are a class of programming languages in which programs are represented as expressions or statements, and not by a series of instructions contained within functions.

A third-generation language (3GL), also known as an external language, can be thought of as a general-purpose high level programming language with built in procedural logic. It allows the programmer to specify relevant facts about the problem being solved without giving explicit details about its solution. This is achieved through constructs such as variables, arrays and loops that give direct access to the memory locations needed for program execution.

Fourth generation programming languages

Next, let’s talk about the fourth generation of programming languages.

These are not just a step up from 3GLs—they’re actually a step up from 2GLs (second-generation languages) as well.

Fifth generation programming languages

Fifth-generation programming languages are designed to solve complex problems. These types of programming languages have been around since the 1960s and are not meant to be used by humans to write programs. Rather, they're used to create expert systems or artificial intelligence.

The world of programming has continually evolved to meet the growing and changing needs of computer users. Today's programmers have many different tools from which to choose.

You may be wondering, what is a general-purpose programming language? Let's start with some history: the world of programming has continually evolved to meet the growing and changing needs of computer users. Today's programmers have many different tools from which to choose.

In the early days, computers were used primarily for number crunching, so most programming languages were designed for that purpose. As time went on and computers became more versatile in their uses, programmers began writing programs in their favorite languages—using them for all sorts of tasks such as word processing or running a business. In other words, they had to pick one language (or type) that could be used for any type of program they needed it for—a general-purpose programming language (GPL).

There are many different types of GPLs available today; however there are only three main categories: procedural/procedural-objective (POP), object-oriented/objective (OOO) and functional/functional objective (FOF).