Because writing machine software or assembly language was so difficult and confusing, people developed complementary languages ​​that are more like human languages, with names like FORTRAN, BASIC, and Pascal. By making programming languages ​​more like ordinary human languages, the developers of these major languages ​​wanted to make programs easier to write and modify later. One of the first high-level programming languages ​​was FORTRAN (which is the standard for FORmula TRANslator).

FORTRAN was specifically designed for numerical computations. Another early high-level language was COBOL (COmmon Business-Oriented Language), which was intended for business data processing.

Since each language has a specific purpose, most people won’t use FORTRAN or COBOL to write video games, operating systems, or word processors (although you still can if you really want to). Because programming was still too difficult for many people, computer scientists soon produced both Pascal and BASIC to teach people to program. BASIC – Multipurpose Symbolic Instruction Code for Beginners – was planned to teach beginners how to program. Beginners can start studying to program using C, but the complexity of C can put people off too soon.

Compared to Pascal, BASIC is less organic, which makes writing a BASIC program comfortable but makes reading and understanding large BASIC programs much more difficult. Pascal is more organized and forces you to plan your program before you write, much like you do if you first plan an excursion before leaving home.

This planning may take longer, but your schedule and trip will be more prepared than rushing to write the schedule right away, which can be as complicated as showing up in London in the middle of the night with no hotel reservations.