To many, the computer may seem like an incredibly intelligent machine, capable of accomplishing any task with disconcerting ease. However, you should know one thing, your computer is dumb. 😜
Indeed, the computer is an educational machine. They need to be instructed to do this or that task. Programs, applications or software are nothing more than a succession of instructions and commands given to the machine. The machine is told to "show this image here" or "move this character in a video game when the player presses a key". Except that to be carried out, our instructions must be understood. Unfortunately, our computers do not understand human languages (French, English, etc.); they only understand the binary (010010). Yes, you're right, giving orders with only 0s and 1s is not very practical, besides, you'd have to learn the binary 😨.
So we had the brilliant idea of creating languages that are easier for humans to understand so that they can interact with the machine: these are programming languages. They provide user-friendly interfaces that translate our intentions into a language that the computer can interpret, with keywords like "if" for conditions or "repeat/while" for loops. So when we say "show this image here" in a programming language, the computer knows how to perform that task. In other words, programming languages are the bridge between our understanding of the world and the relentless binary language of our machines.
In short, programming languages are essential to making computing accessible to everyone. They turn a complex binary language into one that the "uninitiated" can understand. Thanks to them, we can develop software, automate tasks, and harness the power of computers without having to master binary. They are the key that opens the door to a world of opportunities in the IT field.