Algorithmic Languages

A programming language that allows complete sets of steps to be written. All major programming languages are algorithmic languages.

A formal language intended for describing computational processes or, equivalently, for writing down algorithms to be executed by computers. One distinguishes between problem-oriented algorithmic languages (high-level languages), which are not related to any specific machine, and machine-oriented algorithmic languages (low-level languages), which take the specific features of a given machine into account (instruction set, addressing modes, etc.). The term "algorithmic language" usually refers to a problem-oriented language, as opposed to machine code, which is a notation that is directly interpreted by a machine. For the well-formed texts of an algorithmic language (programs, cf. Program) a general algorithm defines their execution in a unique way, which is the distinction between algorithmic languages and non-algorithmic programming languages, for which the execution process for a text is fully undetermined or the text merely serves as material for the synthesis of an algorithm.