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A '''programming language''' is an artificial [[language]] used mainly for giving instructions to computers; a secondary use is for the precise specification of [[algorithm]]s. A group of instructions for a particular purpose is known as a [[computer program]].   

A '''programming language''' is an artificial [[language]] used mainly for giving instructions to [[computer]]s; a secondary use is for the precise specification of [[algorithm]]s. A group of instructions for a particular purpose is known as a [[computer program]].   

When compared with human languages (e.g. English, French, Spanish, etc.), programming languages are very much smaller, much simpler, and are also more precise.  Most programming languages consist of a mixture of English words and mathematical notation; very few programming languages have a base vocabulary exceeding 60 words, although they may also have utility libraries with hundreds of entries which provide optional extra functionality.  

When compared with human languages (e.g. English, French, Spanish, etc.), programming languages are very much smaller, much simpler, and are also more precise.  Most programming languages consist of a mixture of English words and mathematical notation; very few programming languages have a base vocabulary exceeding 60 words, although they may also have utility libraries with hundreds of entries which provide optional extra functionality.  

==The art of programming==

==The art of programming==

The act of writing a computer program using a programming language is called [[programming]]. While there are many guidelines, there are no rules which are guaranteed to produce a correct and usable program, so programming is very much an art or skill rather than a science. Furthermore, a programmer must pay meticulous attention to detail: a moderately large program of say 150,000 instructions must be completely free of punctuation errors, grammatical errors, and spelling mistakes, and must also be largely free of logical errors (as a size comparison, a 400-page paperback book contains about 16,000 lines - 1/10th the size).

The act of writing a computer program using a programming language is called [[Computer Programming|programming]]. While there are many guidelines, there are no rules which are guaranteed to produce a correct and usable program, so programming is very much an art or skill rather than a science. Furthermore, a programmer must pay meticulous attention to detail: a moderately large program of say 150,000 instructions must be completely free of punctuation errors, grammatical errors, and spelling mistakes, and must also be largely free of logical errors (as a size comparison, a 400-page paperback book contains about 16,000 lines - 1/10th the size).

Various studies have found that programmers with a comparable amount of experience may differ in skill levels by a factor of 10 or more.

Various studies have found that programmers with a comparable amount of experience may differ in skill levels by a factor of 10 or more.