This is why I’ve long argued that BASIC is the most consequential language in the history of computing. It’s a language for noobs, sure, but back then most everyone was a noob.

The first is to compile an executable program into the operating environment (machine language and OS) of each target computer. The second is to use an intermediate language and compile only once.

Instructions written in a programming language. Source code is the text that a programmer writes, but it is not directly executable by the computer. Source code must be converted into machine ...