What is NOT a characteristic of high-level programming languages?

High-level programming languages are designed to be user-friendly and easier for humans to read and understand. This is achieved through features like simplified syntax and abstraction from machine code, which allows developers to write code without needing to manage the complexities of the underlying hardware directly.

The correct choice indicates that direct execution of machine code is not a characteristic of high-level programming languages. Instead, high-level languages are typically compiled or interpreted into machine code before being executed by the computer. This means that the code a programmer writes must first be translated into a format that the machine can understand, rather than being executed directly as it is written. This contrasts with low-level programming languages, which are more closely related to machine code and can often be executed directly.

Hence, direct execution of machine code does not apply to high-level programming languages, reinforcing the idea that these languages prioritize human readability and abstraction over direct communication with the machine.