Source program
Charles H. Davidson · Encyclopedia of Computer Science · 2003
A source program is a computer program written in a language one or more steps removed from the machine language of a given computer. Machine language consists of the very explicit set of instructions and operation codes capable of direct execution by the hardware of the computer. It is, however, extremely tedious and error-prone, for it requires that instructions be spelled out in almost microscopic detail, specifying all data and program references in terms of actual addresses within the computer memory. Accordingly, other languages have been developed to make it easier for programmers' desires to be expressed. A program written in such a language is called a source program, and must be translated by one means or another into the language of the machine before it can be executed. Fortunately, other programs can carry out this translation on the computer itself.