Many languages are actually a mix of both third- and fourth-generation languages. The following dBASE example shows the difference in syntax to open a customer file and display names and cities.

This Entry looks at some common statements found in many third and fourth generation programming languages 1. ... The example above contains a very simple use of the 'if' statement, ...

Now, it’s not a language in the same sense as, say, Java or C++: SQL is considered a fourth-generation language (4GL), whereas Java and C++ are third-generation languages (3GLs).

It is a step above assembly language and a step below a fourth-generation language (4GL). For an example of the difference between a 3GL and a 4GL, see fourth-generation language . Advertisement ...