Final answer:
Computers only execute programs written in machine language, which is binary code that the processor can directly understand. High-level languages like Java and Python need to be interpreted or compiled into machine language.
Step-by-step explanation:
Computers can only execute programs that are written in machine language. While high-level programming languages like Java and Python, or low-level ones like assembly language, are used by programmers to write code, they must ultimately be translated into machine language for a computer to execute the instructions. This is because machine language consists of binary code, which the computer's processor is designed to understand directly.
Programming languages like Python need an interpreter or a compiler to translate the code into machine language. Languages such as Java are typically compiled into bytecode, which is then run on a Java Virtual Machine that translates it into machine language. Assembly language, being closer to machine language, is translated via an assembler. Irrespective of the original programming language, the computer ultimately runs machine language.