third generation language (programming language) (3GL)
Programming languages are divided into generations for better classification.
If the 1st generation (1GL) represents machine code, the 2nd generation( 2GL) assembler, then with 3GL higher programming languages are designated such as Basic, Visual Basic ( VB), Cobol and Fortran and also high level languages such as the programming language C, C++ and C-Sharp (C#), which are converted over compilers into machine code.
Programming languages of the 3rd generation exist since the 60's. In these programming languages, programming is no longer dependent on the underlying hardware.