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Difference Between Machine Language and Assembly Language
Machine language is a language that can be understood only by machines but not by humans. 0s and 1s (zeros and ones) are used in the machine language. Previously, it wasn't easy to draw a picture or write text using this language. Assembly Language can be understood by humans. In this article, we will see the difference between Machine Language and Assembly Language.
What is Machine Language?
Machine language is a language that can only be understood by machines. Binary numbers were used in the language and code was written by using 0s and 1s. It was very difficult for the developers to make a picture or write a text and make it visible on the screen. As the language was very difficult to learn and use, it led to the development of Assembly language.
Commands in the machine language are given through a sequence of bits. If a state is true, it is depicted by one. False aspects are depicted by 0. No translator is used for the translation of the machine language as it can already be understood by the machine. As the data is available in the binary format so the speed of code execution is very fast.
What is Assembly Language?
Assembly language comes between the low-level and high-level languages. In order to write a code, numbers, symbols, and abbreviations are used. Bit sequences are not used to write the code so there is no need to learn binary language. Assembler is used to convert the human-readable code into machine language. The speed of execution of the code is slow in comparison to the machine language.
Differences between Machine Language and Assembly Language
The table below shows the difference between machine language and assembly language.
| Machine Language | Assembly Language |
|---|---|
| Only computers have the ability to understand the machine language. | Humans can understand the code written in assembly language. |
| 0s and 1s can only be used for the representation of data. | Data can be represented by symbols, abbreviations, and numbers. |
| Understanding machine language is very difficult. | Assembly language is easy to understand. |
| Code cannot be modified and errors cannot be removed in machine language. | Code can be modified and errors can be removed in assembly language. |
| Learning the machine language and memorizing it to remember the code is very difficult. | Assembly language can be learned and memorized easily as it can be easily understood by humans. |
| The speed of code execution is very fast as it is already written in machine language. | In comparison to machine language the speed of execution of code written in assembly language is slow as the code has to be converted to the machine language. |
| No translator is needed as machine language can be easily understood by computers. | A translator is needed to convert the code into machine language. This translator is known as Assembler. |
| Machine language depends upon hardware. | Assembly language depends on the machine. |
| Machine language is the first-generation language. | Assembly language is the second-generation language. |
| The risk of errors is high and they cannot be easily removed. | The risk of errors is comparatively low and removing them is easy. |
Conclusion
Machine language is a language which can be understood only by the machine while assembly language can be understood by humans. Machine language uses the binary system in which the data is represented in the form of 0s and 1s. Assembly language uses symbols, abbreviations, and numbers to represent the data. No translator is required for machine language as a machine can already understand the code. An assembler is used to translate the code written in the Assembly language to the machine language.
FAQs on Machine Language Vs. Assembly Language
1. In which language risk of error is high and they cannot be eliminated?
In machine language, occurring of errors is high and there is no chance of eliminating them. In the case of Assembly language, the chances of errors are low and they can be easily removed.
2. To which generation do the machine language and assembly language belong?
Machine language belongs to the first generation while the assembly language belongs to the second generation.
3. Which language needs a translator?
Assembly language needs a translator to convert the code into machine language for execution. Machine language can already be understood by a machine so there is no requirement for a translator.
4. Which language is difficult to learn?
Machine language is difficult to learn as data is represented in binary language. Assembly language can be read by humans so it can be learned easily.
5. Which language can be understood by computers and not by humans?
Machine language can be understood by computers only as binary numbers are used to represent the data. The speed of code execution is very fast but removing errors is not possible.
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