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[...]Generation: High-level Languages continued the trend toward a more symbolic code and away from basic hardware operations. Since the statements in the high-level programming languages like FORTRAN, COBOL, BASIC, C, etc. resemble phrases in the English language, programmers could learn and use them more easily. [...]many computer-users with little or no Computer Science training can create (not write!) their own programs using a fourth-generation programming language. 4GPLs tend to fall into two basic categories: (1) tools for efficient software developing, and (2) tools for productive applications development. [...]with the exception of machine language-where the referent was the actual state of a material equipment, all programming languages are semiotic processes of the second order (Marcus 1979) since their referent is always a natural language (English, mostly), that is, another semiotic process. 4. The direct mapping of objects in the problem domain to objects in the program. [...]the semiotic triangle is valid with respect to objects in object-oriented programming: for instance, the sign represented by the keyword "Worksheet" admits as referent all the worksheets in all the MS Excel workbooks while its interpretant is the notion of electronic worksheet form the MS Excel applications: