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Which of the following is considered the second generation of programming languages?

Which of the following is considered the second generation of programming languages?

PrepAway - Latest Free Exam Questions & Answers

A.
Machine

B.
Very high-level

C.
High-level

D.
Assembly

Explanation:
D: The second generation of programming languages generally starts with the introduction of assembly language in the mid-1950s. Assembly languages introduced symbols (called
mnemonics) to represent complicated binary codes. Programmers using assembly languages could use commands like ADD, PUSH, POP, etc., instead of binary codes (1001011010,
etc.). Assembly languages used programs called assemblers that would automatically convert these pseudocodes into machine-compatible binary language.
A is incorrect because the most primitive form of programming language is machine language, which is considered to be the first generation of programming languages. Machine
languages were used as the sole mode of programming in the early 1950s. Early computers used binary instructions as compilers, and interpreters were nonexistent at the time.
Programmers had to manually calculate, allot memory addresses, and feed instructions sequentially, as there was no concept of abstraction.
B is incorrect because fourth-generation languages (very high-level) are designed to further enhance the natural language approach initiated within third-generation language.
Fourth-generation languages are meant to take natural-language-based statements one step ahead. The most common example of fourth-generation language is the SQL database
language.
C is incorrect because the third generation of programming languages started to emerge in the early 1960s. Third-generation programming languages are known as high-level
languages due to their refined programming structures. High-level languages used abstract statements. Abstraction naturalized multiple assembly language instructions into a single
high-level statement, e.g., IF-THEN-ELSE. This allowed programmers to leave low-level (system architecture) intricacies to the programming language, and focus on their
programming objectives..

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