The Code behind Coding Languages?

[fractal]

Machine code? That's when it gets down to binary and meaningless strings of letters (as opposed to if then else).
Assembly/ASM is probably the lowest level language there is, or at least the most widely used.

[Phyalow]

If your interested in this go and read this http://www.amazon.com/Introduction-Comp ... 0072467509. Covers Machine code (& Binary operations) -> Assembly -> C

[stappard]

yeah this wasnt that deep of a question

[Naan_Bread]

A code within a code you say?

[img]inceptionmemeofyourchoice.jpeg[/img]

[hugh]

[slothrop]

If your interested in this go and read this http://www.amazon.com/Introduction-Comp ... 0072467509. Covers Machine code (& Binary operations) -> Assembly -> C

Might have a look at that at some point.

This:
http://www.amazon.com/New-Turing-Omnibu ... 544&sr=1-1
also covers some of it, in a more informal (but still technically solid) way. And is cheaper...

[slothrop]

likely the english meaning of if, else, and then had something to do with it

if you're asking who wrote C then that was Stroustrup. So he initially dictated what went into the C language

Right. I have no problem finding who defines languages, or originated them. Like I know HTML is “governed” by mysterious “Standards Organizations” who put in syntax, and take out syntax between versions, I’m asking WHAT LANGUAGE are CODING languages written in?

How did Stroustrup MAKE “C”

Assembly language, I assume since that's what C compiles into. Other high-level languages were probably written in C. You have to understand that for programming languages, the only thing that defines a "language" in any real way is the compiler/interpreter (because that's what enforces the syntax), which can be written in anything. I read somewhere that it's possible to write the compiler for a language in the language that it compiles.

http://www.jargon.net/jargonfile/b/break-evenpoint.html

I don't know a great deal about this sort of stuff, but this kind of suggests that Kerninghan either wrote C in one of its predecessor languages (ie B) or wrote it in assembler initially and then wrote newer versions of the C compiler in older versions of C...

[noam]

It's all 0s and 1s at the end of the day. Read up on logic gates ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logic_gate ) and how its possible to make flip-flops (memory) out of them. It's pretty amazing...or at least I was pretty amazed when I learnt about them. They're like the fundamental building blocks of digital electronics. On a side note, someone was trying to explain quantum computing to me the other day - fuck me, I thought standard binary computing was hard to understand!

doesn't quantum computing roughly mean that instead of just linear processing based on definite, i duno... ermmm... binary code(?!) a processor can process a '0' and a '1' at the same time so can operate at speeds which dwarf even the largest most powerful, standard processors now

i kind of thought about it like the difference between bacteria which grows 1 by 1 and bacteria which grows exponentially, 1 by 1 it would take 1000's of years for mould to grow on a coffee cup, exponential growth of bacteria means its fully possible for bacteria to grow and be visible within a couple of days

the quantum part is the wave of probability whereby a single command can either be a 0 or a 1 at any point??

but i dont know if thats correct at all, just how i imagined it after hearing someone attempt to explain it in a documentary!

tbf even the guy who runs the thing doesn't really know how it works... so i dont feel too bad!!

[Shum]

Check out "A Shortcut Through Time: The Path To The Quantum Computer" by George Johnson (I think that's his name?). It gives a fairly practical, readable explanation of what Quantum computing is about.

[noam]

im about to watch Pioneers of Quantum Computing, have you seem that/recommend it?

[Shum]

Nope, might have to check it out myself lol.

[fractal]

I really enjoyed this book, starts off very abstract, walks you through the ideas of relays and flip flops into volatile memory... Brings the concepts of alternate number systems alive before it introduces binary and hexi... Introduces logic gates and ideas like the ones/nines complement and then it slowly brings it all together to describe every part of the process. I can't really explain it very well, but it's completely different from any book I've ever read on the subject. Highly recommended!

http://www.amazon.com/Code-Language-Com ... 097&sr=1-3

[Shum]

So cheap I double posted!

[Shum]

Dirty cheap as well $US10!

[fractal]

Yeah, it's silly not to get it! Lol

I'd love to hear your thoughts on it if you read it

[jrisreal]

those languages arent meant for humans to be able to understand, but obviously some humans must understand it or else it wouldnt have been written, right?

[slothrop]

those languages arent meant for humans to be able to understand, but obviously some humans must understand it or else it wouldnt have been written, right?

Basically the lower level something is the harder it is to read and write, but it'll still be possible to write comparatively small things in it. In particular, you can write a basic assembler or compiler for the next language up the food chain, and then use the higher level language to write the next language up (and a more user-friendly implementation of itself) and so on.

[magma]

My Dad used to code Assembler for Mainframes... he has frequently been known to roll his eyes when I say things like "I've got myself stuck with a VB script..."

[fractal]

I bet!

[magma]

His best story was taking some programs to Germany to be run in a factory... stopped at the border by German immigration asking what all the holey paper is for and how much it was worth.

"Well, the card is worth about a penny, but the holes are worth millions"

He was there a while.