Translates the source code into machine code that the computer can understand
Translates the source code into machine code that the computer can understand
Difference between Compiler and Interpreter
| Differences between Interpreter and Compiler | |
| Interpreter translates just one statement of the program at a time into machine code. | Compiler scans the entire program and translates the whole of it into machine code at once. |
| An interpreter takes very less time to analyze the source code. However, the overall time to execute the process is much slower. | A compiler takes a lot of time to analyze the source code. However, the overall time taken to execute the process is much faster. |
| An interpreter does not generate an intermediary code. Hence, an interpreter is highly efficient in terms of its memory. | A compiler always generates an intermediary object code. It will need further linking. Hence more memory is needed. |
| Keeps translating the program continuously till the first error is confronted. If any error is spotted, it stops working and hence debugging becomes easy. | A compiler generates the error message only after it scans the complete program and hence debugging is relatively harder while working with a compiler. |
| Interpreters are used by programming languages like Ruby and Python for example. | Compliers are used by programming languages like C and C++ for example. |
How Interpreter and Compiler work?
To start with, a compiler creates the program. It will analyze all the language statements to check if they are correct. If it comes across something incorrect, it will give an error message. If there are no errors spotted, the compiler will convert the source code into machine code. The compiler links the different code files into programs that can be run such as exe. Finally the program runs.
An interpreter creates the program. It neither links the files nor generates machine code. The source statements are executed line by line while executing the program.
Advantages and disadvantages of Interpreter and Compiler
In case of using compilers, the program codes are translated into machine code already and hence the time to execute the code is very less. On the negative side, it is not possible to change the program without going back to the source code while working with a compiler.
Interpreters make working with the source code much easier. Hence they are highly suitable especially for the beginners. On the negative side, interpreted programs can only run on the computers that have the respective interpreters.
Translators
Computers only understand machine code (binary), this is an issue because programmers prefer to use a variety of high and low-level programming languages instead.
To get around the issue, the high-level and low-level program code (source code) needs to pass through a translator.
A translator will convert the source code into machine code (object code).
There are several types of translator programs, each able to perform different tasks.
Compiler
Compilers are used to translate a program written in a high-level language into machine code (object code).
Once compiled (all in one go), the translated program file can then be directly used by the computer and is independently executable.
Compiling may take some time but the translated program can be used again and again without the need for recompilation.
An error report is often produced after the full program has been translated. Errors in the program code may cause a computer to crash. These errors can only be fixed by changing the original source code and compiling the program again.
Interpreter
Interpreter programs are able to read, translate and execute one statement at a time from a high-level language program.
The interpreter stops when a line of code is reached that contains an error.
Interpreters are often used during the development of a program. They make debugging easier as each line of code is analysed and checked before execution.
Interpreted programs will launch immediately, but your program may run slower then a complied file.
No executable file is produced. The program is interpreted again from scratch every time you launch it.
Assembler
Assemblers are used to translate a program written in a low-level assembly language into a machine code (object code) file so it can be used and executed by the computer.
Once assembled, the program file can be used again and again without re-assembly.
Language Processors: Assembler, Compiler and Interpreter
Compilers, interpreters, translate programs written in high-level languages into machine code that a computer understands. And assemblers translate programs written in low-level or assembly language into machine code. In the compilation process, there are several stages. To help programmers write error-free code, tools are available.
Assembly language is machine-dependent, yet mnemonics used to represent instructions in it are not directly understandable by machine and high-Level language is machine-independent. A computer understands instructions in machine code, i.e. in the form of 0s and 1s. It is a tedious task to write a computer program directly in machine code. The programs are written mostly in high-level languages like Java, C++, Python etc. and are called source code. These source code cannot be executed directly by the computer and must be converted into machine language to be executed. Hence, a special translator system software is used to translate the program written in a high-level language into machine code is called Language Processor and the program after translated into machine code (object program/object code).
The language processors can be any of the following three types:
1. Compiler :
The language processor that reads the complete source program written in high-level language as a whole in one go and translates it into an equivalent program in machine language is called a Compiler. Example: C, C++, C#, Java.
In a compiler, the source code is translated to object code successfully if it is free of errors. The compiler specifies the errors at the end of the compilation with line numbers when there are any errors in the source code. The errors must be removed before the compiler can successfully recompile the source code again
2. Assembler :
The Assembler is used to translate the program written in Assembly language into machine code. The source program is an input of an assembler that contains assembly language instructions. The output generated by the assembler is the object code or machine code understandable by the computer. Assembler is basically the 1st interface that is able to communicate humans with the machine. We need an Assembler to fill the gap between human and machine so that they can communicate with each other. code written in assembly language is some sort of mnemonics(instructions) like ADD, MUL, MUX, SUB, DIV, MOV and so on. and the assembler is basically able to convert these mnemonics in Binary code. Here, these mnemonics also depend upon the architecture of the machine.
For example, the architecture of intel 8085 and intel 8086 are different.
3. Interpreter :
The translation of a single statement of the source program into machine code is done by a language processor and executes immediately before moving on to the next line is called an interpreter. If there is an error in the statement, the interpreter terminates its translating process at that statement and displays an error message. The interpreter moves on to the next line for execution only after the removal of the error. An Interpreter directly executes instructions written in a programming or scripting language without previously converting them to an object code or machine code.
Example: Perl, Python and Matlab.
Difference between Compiler and Interpreter –
Compiler Vs. Interpreter: What’s the Difference?
Updated June 25, 2022
What is Compiler?
A compiler is a computer program that transforms code written in a high-level programming language into the machine code. It is a program which translates the human-readable code to a language a computer processor understands (binary 1 and 0 bits). The computer processes the machine code to perform the corresponding tasks.
A compiler should comply with the syntax rule of that programming language in which it is written. However, the compiler is only a program and can not fix errors found in that program. So, if you make a mistake, you need to make changes in the syntax of your program. Otherwise, it will not compile.
What is Interpreter?
An interpreter is a computer program, which converts each high-level program statement into the machine code. This includes source code, pre-compiled code, and scripts. Both compiler and interpreters do the same job which is converting higher level programming language to machine code. However, a compiler will convert the code into machine code (create an exe) before program run. Interpreters convert code into machine code when the program is run.
KEY DIFFERENCE
Difference Between Compiler and Interpreter
Role of Compiler
Role of Interpreter
HIGH-LEVEL LANGUAGES
High-level languages, like C, C++, JAVA, etc., are very near to English. It makes programming process easy. However, it must be translated into machine language before execution. This translation process is either conducted by either a compiler or an interpreter. Also known as source code.
MACHINE CODE
Machine languages are very close to the hardware. Every computer has its machine language. A machine language programs are made up of series of binary pattern. (Eg. 110110) It represents the simple operations which should be performed by the computer. Machine language programs are executable so that they can be run directly.
OBJECT CODE
On compilation of source code, the machine code generated for different processors like Intel, AMD, and ARM is different. To make code portable, the source code is first converted to Object Code. It is an intermediary code (similar to machine code) that no processor will understand. At run time, the object code is converted to the machine code of the underlying platform.
Java is both Compiled and Interpreted.
To exploit relative advantages of compilers are interpreters some programming language like Java are both compiled and interpreted. The Java code itself is compiled into Object Code. At run time, the JVM interprets the Object code into machine code of the target computer.
Difference between Compiler and Interpreter
By Dinesh Thakur
Compilers and interpreters are translator programs (also called language processors) for converting high-level language into machine codes for the computer. Computer programs are usually written in languages of high-level. People can understand a high-level language. To clarify this, they contain words and phrases from commonly used languages such as English or other languages. Computers, however, cannot understand high-level languages like we humans.
The computer can understand only the programs developed in binary systems known as the machine code. First, a computer program is usually written as a source code in the high-level language. These source codes must be converted to a machine language, and the compilers and interpreters have a role to play. The compiler translates the source code to Machine code and Binary code.
We’ll be covering the following topics in this tutorial:
Differences between Interpreter and Compiler
| Interpreter | Compiler |
| Only one statement of the program is translated into machine code by the interpreter. | Compiler scans the entire program and simultaneously translates it into a machine code. |
| The interpreter checks the keywords of the program. | The compiler checks the program syntax. |
| It takes less time to analyzing and processing the source code. The time to execute the process is, however, much slower. | It takes a long time to analyzing and processing the source code. The overall time required to complete the process is, however, much faster. |
| An intermediary code is not generated by an interpreter. An interpreter is therefore highly efficient in memory. | An intermediate object code is always generated by a compiler. It will need to be linked further. More memory is therefore required. |
| Continuously translates the program until the first error is encountered. If an error is detected, it stops working and therefore debugging is easy. | A compiler generates the error message only after scanning the entire program and therefore debugging while working with a compiler becomes relatively difficult. |
| Interpreters are used in programming languages such as Ruby and Python. | Compilers are used in programming languages such as C and C++. |
How Interpreter and Compiler work?
The compiler is a translator program that translate source code into the executable program from a high-level programming language to a lower-level language (e.g., assembly language, object code, or machine code).
The Parser (also known as Lexical Analyzer), a part of a compiler responsible for, recognizes all the language’s syntax, but it is slow for debugging. Lexical Analyzer (First phase of Compiler) is also called “Linear Phase” or “Linear Analysis” or “Scanning”.
In a compiler, the code generator module checks every character of the source text. It can check Syntax errors. It is the process of analyzing a string of symbols and conforming to the rules of grammar. If something is wrong, it will produces object code and an error message. The Compiler can diagnose grammatical errors only. If no errors are detected, the compiler converts the source code into machine code. The compiler links the various code files to programs such as exe. The program finally runs.
An interpreter is a program that can “directly run high-level programs (Source Code) without first being translated into machine language. Similarly, Assembler is used in the case of low-level languages. It does not link the files and does not generate machine code.
The source statements are performed line by line during program execution. Each source statement is analyzed by the interpreter each time it is executed. An interpreter is preferred over a compiler during the program development phase.
Advantages and disadvantages of Interpreter and Compiler
If compilers are used, program codes are already translated into machine code, and the time to execute them is therefore much less. On the negative side, you can not change the program when working with a compiler without going back to the source code.
Interpreters make it much easier to work with the source code. Therefore they are particularly suitable for beginners. On the negative side, only the computers with the respective interpreters can be used for interpreted programs.