The definition of machine code and explanation of what is machine code

Machine code is the only form of program instructions that the computer hardware can understand and execute directly. All other forms of computer language must be translated into machine code in order to be executed by the hardware. Machine code consists of many strings of binary digits that are easy for the computer to interpret, but tedious for human beings to interpret. Machine code is different for each type of computer. A program in machine code for an Intel x86-based PC will not run on an IBM mainframe computer, and vice versa.

Assembly language is a symbolic representation of machine code, which allows programmers to write programs in machine code without having to deal with the long binary strings. For example, the machine code for an instruction that adds two numbers might be 01101110, but in assembly language, this can be represented by the symbol ADD. A simple assembler program translates this symbolic language directly into machine code. Because machine code is specific to each type of computer hardware, assembly languages are also specific to each type of computer. However, all machine languages and assembly languages look very similar, even though they are not interchangeable.