__________ is an example of a third generation programming language.

• A. FORTRAN
• B. SQL
• C. Machine code
• D. Assembly language

Answer: (A)

Third-generation languages are high-level, human-readable languages that are compiled or interpreted to run on hardware, abstracting away hardware details. FORTRAN fits this, since it was designed in the early days of high-level programming to express mathematical and scientific computations in a readable syntax, with code translated by a compiler into machine instructions. This level of abstraction and the use of a compiler are hallmarks of third-generation languages.

In contrast, machine code is the actual binary instructions executed by the processor (first generation). Assembly language is a step above machine code but remains low-level, using mnemonics that map directly to specific machine instructions (second generation). SQL, while powerful for database queries, is typically considered a fourth-generation language (or a domain-specific, non-procedural language), not a general-purpose third-generation language.