BASIC CONCEPTS OF COMPUTER ARCHITECTURE

Computer Architecture - is the design of computers, including their instruction sets, hardware components, and system organization.

Most computers follow the Von Neumann Architecture, also known as Stored Program Architecture or the Fetch-Decode-Execute Architecture. It simply means that programs (together with data) are stored in main memory during execution.

Type of Programming Languages:

1. Machine Language

2. Assembly Language

3. High-Level Language

4. 4GL Language

• · Machine Language – the natural or primitive language that the computer actually understands. This programming language consists of 0’s and 1’s which makes programmning very difficult.

• · Assembly Language – a programming language that uses “abbreviations” or mnemonics in place of binary patterns in order to make the task of programming easier.
• · Assembler – is a special program that translates assembly langugae mnemonics into machine language.
• · Both Machine Language and Assembly Language are Low-Level Languages.
• · High – Level Language – a programming language that uses English-like commands or instructions. Also known as the third generation language. A compiler is a special program that translates high-level language instructions into machine language. Examples are FORTRAN, COBOL, BASIC, and PASCAL.
• · Fourth-Generation Language(4GL) – is a programming language designed with a specific purpose in mind such as the develoment of commercial business software.

All 4GLs are designed to reduce:

· Programming effort

· The time it takes to develop software

· The cost of software development

Advantages of High-Level Languages:

1. Easy to learn.

2. Predefined Functions.

3. Portability.

Advantages of Low-Level Languages:

1. Compact Code

2. Speed

3. Flexible