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can you explain to me in plain english(pretend im 5?) the difference between a low level lang and a high level lang?


low-lev·el lan·guage
NOUN
a computer-oriented programming language, e.g. assembly language, in which instructions are in a code closer to machine code than to human language

high-lev·el lan·guage
NOUN
a computer programming language with syntax and grammar crudely approximating a natural language.

these two definitions seem to be counter intuitive as I would have guessed that higher = more advanced/difficult and lower = more elementary/simple.

its seems to be opposite? is there a reason for this or is it just coincidental?

Why do you think a low level language is more advanced?

I think of high vs low as how far away the programmer is abstracted from managing and dealing with bits/bytes as the translation of the programmer's ideas into computation.

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Well because in these definitions low level is defined as "more machine code than human language"

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Doesn't mean it is more advanced. Less advanced in terms of developing software actually.

Could you explain?

I'm very very new to this

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Being able to use natural language allows us to more succinctly express ideas that we would otherwise have to tediously express in bits/bytes.

This speeds up our ability to deliver programs that do relevant work and/or solves relevant problems.

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its opposite from what you're thinking, has nothing to do with how 'advanced' something is

low - closer to the underlying technology
high - farther away from the underlying technology

example:

low level - mechanic opens the trottle valve above the air intake, allowing more air into the car's engine to mix with the fuel
high level - you step on the gas pedal

All excellent answers. It is actually simple to comprehend, machine language existed before assembly language. Assembly language was developed as an advancement to machine language. High level languages followed assembly language as an advancement. New languages aren't developed for taking steps backward.

Ahh I see. This makes alot of sense. Many thanks to all

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Just to expand on what greg_nice wrote. Look at it from the language point of view.

The job of a low level language is relatively simple. It basically just allows you to issue commands to the underlying hardware but doesn't provide much in terms of advanced metaphors or abstractions. The source code written corresponds somewhat closely to the machine code produced.

The job of a high level language is much more complex. It abstracts away most of the hardware details and allows you to work with metaphors that don't directly exist in the hardware. You are working with classes, inheritance, dynamic types etc and your hardware has no concept of some of these. A high level language needs to translate these abstract concepts into something that runs on your hardware. The source code written is much further removed from the machine code that is eventually executed.

try to study and understand what the term "abstract away" means. it took me a minute to understand it but its fairly important.

I am able to have a high-level conversation about poker with an expert poker player, but not a novice player.

The expert player already has built up a catalogue of knowledge on many subjects in poker. We can quickly talk about very powerful concepts because I don't need to waste time explaining very basic things to the expert.

On the other hand, I may need to teach the novice about the rules of the game - who gets to bet, how much, and when. Which hands beat which other hands. Teach him about pot odds, EV, counting outs, etc.

That's basically the difference. With low level languages you have to tell the language instructions for how to do very basic things. This can be beneficial in some instances (I think generally when you absolutely need the fastest performance, because you can really fine-tune the exact instructions to best fit your specific case).
High level languages have more of the basic stuff built into them, built off of the instructions of the people who helped design the language. With high level languages you can get things done with less code because the language already knows how to do a lot of the things that you want to do.

It's always a joy when a poker analogy is absolutely spot on!

This was really helpful to me. Many thanks

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