ASM is theoretically portable as most of what you'd use it for is an x86. SPARC and so on would need other ASM.
Legally unencumbered means that it has very little in my way of doing what I want with it (like GNU, they want to make a legally unencumbered version of UNIX.

0 members found this post helpful.

It is not portable, because program must interact with operating system in order to do anything at all. Try running Linux binary on windows platform.

GNU is legally encumbered, because it forbids you to release closed-source derivative of a GNU-licensed product. As far as I know, there aren't many licenses that impose no restrictions at all.

2 members found this post helpful.

Again, the post is senseless. A high level computer language allows to concisely describe an algorithm (or eve requirements in declarative languages), an the tool (e.g. the compiler) implements what's needed automatically.

Not the case with English.

FWIW, well written standards first explain the English used in them, for example, the exact meaning of 'should', 'must', etc.

0 members found this post helpful.

Nah. There are people who own cellphones, so they likely use an ARM machine, but not a PC.

And it's already been said that even a program originally written interacts with OS, so it is not portable.

*ug*
ASM is portable if used on an x86 machine to write an os/ something that would interact directaly with the hardware.
English is not a programing language ( for computers ) nor is spanish , etc
If you had to think everything over wouldnt JavaScript come out first? The language may suck and lack my favorite part of programing (file io) but if there's a standard-compliant (~97.5%) and GUI (99.7% peole may love dos but still would use a GUI os for internet) internet browser, it would work.
The idea of a Internet programing language from Netscape may have it's drawbacks but askIng the os vendor to supply the Interpiter instead of providing one is a mild idea. How much would this site suck withought JS?

0 members found this post helpful.

Which is equivalent to declaring types/macros/functions/structures in programming language.
Anyway, whatever.

Nope. How is your program supposed to know what hardware is present and how to interact with it? Think about it. Opening a file, reading from file, outputting anything, displaying anything and even allocating memory block requires interaction with OS. Every hardware component is optional - display, sound device, input device may or may not be present, and there may be multiple ways to interact with them.

Nope. IMO, your question is a waste of time (subjective and requires a way to measure "high levelness" of language) and has no practical application. I'd suggest to do something useful instead.

2 members found this post helpful.

I think you should restate your thesis or restate your goal.

1 members found this post helpful.

A: The answer is simple: "Natural language". English, German, Mandarin, Esperanto, etc etc. "Open the pod bay doors, HAL". As far as computers understanding natural language ... I believe we're getting close. Many would say we're already there ("Siri", anybody?)

Nonsense. Almost any way you wish to define the term, "assembler" is the canonical example of LEAST portable Just about ANYTHING is "higher-level" than assembler

"Legally unencumbered" means NO RESTRICTIONS.
This does NOT apply to Gnu software; it does NOT apply to Microsoft or Oracle software.
If there's a "license", almost by definition, there's almost certain to be an "encumberance". For example, if you cut/paste something from the Internet, strip off the author's name, copyright and license, and substitute your own name ... the author can (and probably should) sue you. That is NOT "unencumbered"

To say nothing of VB.Net This observation and Segei's muffins are probably the two things in the thread that make the MOST sense

1 members found this post helpful.

Highest Level Programming...

Depends on the programmer...

Depends upon time...

As long as there is an interpreter like .so files in nix and .dll in windows

The program is portable to other OS plat form if upon compiling there is a required library and commands.

0 members found this post helpful.

I think that we can establish some tentative results at this point:
1. there is little agreement in the community on the meaning of "high level" in this question.
2. there is little agreement on the meaning or degree involving "legally unencumbered". (I thought "public domain" would fit here, and was surprised not to see it discussed.)

Even if we could agree completely on terms, I suspect that there would be no complete agreement on "language".

I find myself unable to consider "machine code" actually a language. Assembler (as mentioned above) used as a software and language that translates source to machine code IS a language and CAN be made portable. I have some issues with considering even a generalized assembler language "high level".
---------
I would like now to ask what conclusions the OP has extracted from this discussion, and if it has been at all helpful.

Since the instructor certainly provided some standards for consideration of level range from high to low, there may be some more specific constraints involved that might be of interest to many of us.

0 members found this post helpful.