In the 1950s and ’60s you generally used machine language, which had commands like “sal 665” and “sal 667.” (Those tell the computer to move its accumulator, a crucial region of memory ...

The first is to compile an executable program into the operating environment (machine language and OS) of each target computer. The second is to use an intermediate language and compile only once.

The language Quantum Machine describes in its materials isn’t what you think of when you imagine programming, unless you’re a machine language coder. What’s machine language?

What does programming language actually mean? Find out inside PCMag's comprehensive tech and computer-related encyclopedia.