machine code

noun

UK /məˈʃiːn kəʊd/

US /məˈʃiːn koʊd/

Machine code is the set of tiny instructions that a computer's brain can understand and follow directly.

The programmer wrote the program in a high-level language, and a compiler turned it into machine code.

SYNONYMS

machine language binary code object code native code

RELATED WORDS

assembly language compiler processor instruction set bytecode

OTHER MEANINGS

2. The binary instructions executed directly by a computer's central processing unit.

Each machine code instruction tells the CPU exactly which operation to perform.

3. A low-level programming language consisting of numeric opcodes and operands.

Writing in machine code by hand is tedious because every instruction is a string of zeros and ones.

4. The final compiled output of a program that is ready to run on a specific hardware platform.

The software was distributed as machine code so it could run without a compiler.