Machine Code

Machine code is called 'the first-generation programming language, or 1GL'. It is the only language a microprocessor can process directly without a previous transformation. It consist entirely of numbers and are almost impossible for humans to read and write. A CPU needs electronic impulses to operate - binary input. Binary numbers are easily changed into hex form.

Machine code or machine language is a system of instructions and data executed directly by a computer's central processing unit. Machine code is the lowest-level representation of a compiled and/or assembled computer program .

Programs in interpreted languages are not represented by machine code. The interpreter - a processor executing the higher level program - is.

Currently, programmers very rarely write programs directly in machine code, because it requires attention to details which a high-level language would handle automatically, and also requires memorizing or looking up numerical codes for every instruction that is used.