Compiler and Interpreter

   Introduction to Compiler

• A compiler is a translator that converts the high-level language into the machine language.
• High-level language is written by a developer and machine language can be understood by the processor.
• Compiler is used to show errors to the programmer.
• The main purpose of compiler is to change the code written in one language without changing the meaning of the program.
• When you execute a program which is written in high level programming language then it executes into two phases.
• In the first phase, the source program compiled and translated into the object program (low level language).
• In the second phase, object program translated into the target program through the assembler.

 Interpreter

Interpreter also converts the high level language into machine readable binary equivalents. Each time when an interpreter gets a high level language code to be executed, it converts the code into an intermediate code before converting it into the machine code. Each part of the code is interpreted and then execute separately in a sequence and an error is found in a part of the code it will stop the interpretation of the code without translating the next set of the codes.

Interpreter Vs Compiler

Interpreter	Compiler
Translates program one statement at a time.	Scans the entire program and translates it as a whole into machine code.
Interpreters usually take less amount of time to analyze the source code. However, the overall execution time is comparatively slower than compilers.	Compilers usually take a large amount of time to analyze the source code. However, the overall execution time is comparatively faster than interpreters.
No intermediate object code is generated, hence are memory efficient.	Generates intermediate object code which further requires linking, hence requires more memory.
Programming languages like JavaScript, Python, Ruby use interpreters.	Programming languages like C, C++, Java use compilers.