Computer Concepts Practice Exam 2026 – Complete Study Guide

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Which of the following describes machine code and its relationship to high-level programming languages?

Machine code is the binary instructions executed by the CPU.

High-level languages are interpreted directly by the CPU.

Machine code is the binary instructions executed by the CPU; high-level languages are translated into machine code.

The main idea here is that the CPU runs binary instructions called machine code, while high‑level languages are human‑friendly in their syntax and must be translated into that machine code before the CPU can execute it. The best description says machine code is the binary instructions executed by the CPU, and high‑level languages are translated into machine code. That captures both what the CPU runs directly and how high‑level code gets turned into something the CPU can execute.

High‑level languages aren’t understood by the CPU as written; they need translation either ahead of time (compilation) or during execution (interpretation). So statements claiming the CPU runs high‑level languages directly or that no translation is needed on any platform don’t fit.

High-level languages run without translation on any platform.