- The first generation languages, or 1GL are low-level languages that are machine language.
- The second generation languages, or 2GL are also low-level languages that consist of assembly languages.
- The third generation languages, or 3GL are high-level languages such as C.
- The fourth generation languages, or 4GL are languages that consist of statements similar to statements in a human language. Fourth generation languages are commonly used in database programming and scripts.
- The fifth generation languages, or 5GL are programming languages that contain visual tools to help develop a program. A good example of a fifth generation language is Visual Basic.
Pointers are an extremely powerful programming tool. They can make some things much easier, help improve your program's efficiency, and even allow you to handle unlimited amounts of data. For example, using pointers is one way to have a function modify a variable passed to it. It is also possible to use pointers to dynamically allocate memory, which means that you can write programs that can handle nearly unlimited amounts of data on the fly--you don't need to know, when you write the program, how much memory you need. Wow, that's kind of cool. Actually, it's very cool, as we'll see in some of the next tutorials. For now, let's just get a basic handle on what pointers are and how you use them. What are pointers? Why should you care? Pointers are aptly name: they "point" to locations in memory. Think of a row of safety deposit boxes of various sizes at a local bank. Each safety deposit box will have a number associated with it so that you ca...
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