Why are there things like c++ and python when computers have to be programmed. Why does there need to be so many languages when one could solve it?
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Why are there so many vehicles, like motorcycles and cars and pickup trucks and ambulances and semis?
Why are there so many musical instruments, like guitars and drums and trumpets and cellos?
Just like all vehicles get you from point A to point B, and all musical instruments play music, all programming languages let you program computers. But they’re all good for different things.
Very practically speaking, here’s one of the biggest differences.
Low-level programming languages tell the computer exactly what to do in excruciating detail. It’s tedious to program in these languages because you have to detail every single step, but if you’re clever you can make a program that’s very fast and efficient.
High-level programming languages let you write much less code to tell the computer what to do. You can give very broad, general-purpose instructions and it will figure out the details. However, it’s probably not going to do it the most efficient way, it can be quite wasteful.
High-level languages are great when your goal is to write a program as quickly as possible because it’s only going to be used a few times or only by a few people and it doesn’t need to be fast. Low-level languages are great when your program is very important and needs to be as efficient as possible.
And there are lots of options in-between.
And that’s just one difference. Just like with vehicles and musical instruments, there are lots of differences between programming languages.
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