Technology
What is Machine code?
Machine code is the most basic language a computer understands — raw instructions written in binary (1s and 0s) that the processor executes directly. All software, no matter the language it's written in, is ultimately turned into machine code to run.
See it, don’t just read it.
Watch a 2-minute lesson with voice + animation that explains machine code.
Key things to understand
- 1It's the binary instructions a CPU runs directly.
- 2It's the lowest-level computer language.
- 3Human-friendly code is translated into it to run.
- 4It's specific to a processor's design.
Frequently asked questions
- What is machine code?
- The raw binary instructions a processor executes directly — the lowest-level language a computer understands.
- How is machine code different from a programming language?
- Programming languages are human-readable; they're compiled or interpreted down into machine code to run.
- Can humans write machine code?
- They can, but it's extremely tedious — which is why we use higher-level languages and compilers.