What Are the Uses of Other Programming Languages and Other Program Development Tools? A 4GL (fourth-generation language) is a nonprocedural language that enables users to access data in a database. A popular 4GL is SQL, a query language for relational databases. An application generator creates source code or machine code from a specification of the required functionality. A macro, which is a series of statements that instructs an application how to complete a task, allows users to automate routine, repetitive tasks.