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low-level

low-level

2 6.7
Relating to code or systems that work close to the parts of a computer
  • adjective
  • /ˈloʊˌlɛvəl/
  • Specialized
translation icon : de bajo nivel
  • Many developers prefer using low-level programming languages for tasks that require direct hardware manipulation.
  • low-level APIs such as

Measuring accurately can be done with low level APIs.

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Examples

  • Measuring accurately can be done with low level APIs.

  • A standard assembler then turns a verified interface to the low-level functionality of the operating system into an object file.

    Academic text (2011)
  • It's of great interest to people who write low level code.

  • And I found that really fun, but it was kind of low level stuff.

  • And we take a very naive and low level hardware view of what a type is.

  • Moreover, their code is written at a low level in C++, while our script requires only 30 lines of Python code.

    Academic text (2018)
  • Often, the only other alternative is tedious, low-level programming using an assembly language.

    Academic text (2009)
  • Without security, users are vulnerable to attacks from the network, which often exploit low-level bugs such as buffer overflows to take over a user's computer.

    Academic text (2011)
  • Even very early computer systems employed low-level parallelism (such as overlapping input-output with computing).

    Academic text (2011)
  • Instead of using MFC/QT/WTL, I've created a low-level object-oriented library using Win32 directly—the "Bottom C++."

    Blog text (32)

How High-Level

high-level language
  • Specialized
1 5.5
computer language
  • Specialized
2 4.1
low-level
  • Specialized
2 6.7
assembly language
  • Specialized
1 8.1
machine code
  • Specialized
1 4.9

Surface Forms

low-level positive

Morphology

low-level = low + level (semi-transparent) = low + level

Built from 'low' + 'level' but used as a technical term in computing meaning low in abstraction (close to hardware), which may not be obvious to an average B1 learner.

Etymology

The word low-level comes from low ('near the base') and level ('layer' or 'floor'). Think of the ground floor of a building — low-level code works close to the computer's basic parts, so it controls the machine more directly.