What does a 'higher level language' primarily aim to achieve in programming?

A higher-level language primarily aims to improve developer productivity by allowing programmers to write code that is easier to read, understand, and maintain. These languages are designed to abstract away the complexities of the underlying hardware, providing higher-level constructs that align more closely with human thought processes. This abstraction enables developers to focus on solving problems rather than dealing with the intricacies of machine code or lower-level programming details.

For instance, higher-level languages often include rich libraries, built-in functions, and frameworks that allow programmers to accomplish tasks with less code and fewer lines, thus streamlining the development process. Syntax in higher-level languages is typically more intuitive and closer to natural languages, making it easier for beginners to learn and for experienced developers to work efficiently.

While performance optimization, close hardware interaction, and lower memory usage are important considerations in programming and can be aspects of specific languages, they are not the primary goals of higher-level languages. Instead, these languages trade off some level of performance and hardware control to enhance the speed and ease of development for programmers.