blog posts

Programming code is translated for computer systems through an interpreter or compiler. With the help of an interpreter or compiler, the programmer turns a high-level programming language into a simple and understandable language. Today in Ded9, we are going to examine the differences between the interpreter system and the compiler, so stay tuned.

What is a compiler?

A compiler is a computer program that converts code written in high-level programming languages ​​into machine code. In other words, this computer program translates code that is readable to humans into binary languages ​​zero and one so that the computer system processor also understands them. Finally, the computer system processes the machine code to perform a specific operation.

The compiler must follow the syntax of the language in which it was written. However, the compiler is just a program and cannot fix the errors in that program, so if something goes wrong, you must change the syntax of your software; otherwise, the program will not compile properly.

What is an Interpreter?

An interpreter is a computer program that converts each statement line from a high-level program into machine code, including source code, pre-compiled code, and scripts. The compiler and the interpreter perform similarly. In a way, both convert high-level programming languages ​​into machine code. The compiler converts the code to machine code before running the program (making the .exe file), but the interpreter will convert the code to machine code simultaneously while running the program.

The main differences between the compiler and the interpreter

1- Programming phases

compiler

• The compiler analyzes the accuracy of all programming language statements and will give an error if they are incorrect.
• If there is no problem, the source compiler will convert the code to machine code.
• The compiler will link the code of various files to an executable program known as .exe files.

Interpreter

• No linking of files or generation of machine codes is done.
• Source statements are made line by line during program execution.

2- Advantages

compiler

• The program code has already been translated into machine code so that the execution time will be short.

Interpreter

• Interpreters are easier to use, especially for novice programmers.

3- Disadvantages

compiler

• You can not change the compiler without referring to the source code.

Interpreter

Interpreting programs can be on computer systems that have corresponding interpreters.

4- Car codes

compiler

• The machine language, called Machine Code, will be saved to disk.

Interpreter

• Machine codes will not be saved in any way.

5- Running Time

compiler

• Compiled code performs faster.

Interpreter

Interpretation codes are slower.

6- Model

compiler

• The compiler is based on the Translation linking-loading model.

Interpreter

• The interpreter works according to the interpretive method.

7- Program Generator

compiler

• The compiler produces the computer program as an .exe file; this program can be independent of the main program.

Interpreter

• The program interpreter does not output but will always evaluate the main program at runtime.

8- Execution

compiler

• The execution of the program is separate from the compilation process, and after compiling all the components of a program, it is done.

Interpreter

• Execution of the program is part of the interpretation process, which is line by line.

9- Storage space

compiler

• The program runs separately from the compiler, so storing the compiler in memory is unnecessary.

Interpreter

• The interpreter is stored in memory while interpreting the programming code.

10- Field of use

compiler

• Compiler languages ​​are limited to a specific machine and are not transferable. Popular C and C ++ programming languages ​​use the compile model.

Interpreter

• Interpreter languages ​​are used in web environments where high loading speeds are important. In fact, the analysis is comprehensive in compiler languages, so the compilation time (even small code) is longer.

11- Code optimization

compiler

• The compiler takes all the code by default, performing optimization operations to speed up the code.

Interpreter

• Interpreters consider programming code linear, so they perform poorly in optimizing it.

12- Dynamic Typing

compiler

• Dynamic typing will be difficult because the compiler cannot predict upcoming events during turnaround times.

Interpreter

• Interpreter languages ​​support dynamic typing.

13- Application

compiler

• Compiler languages ​​are the best choice for the production environment.

Interpreter

• Interpreter languages ​​are a good option for applications and software development environments.

14- Execution of error

compiler

• Compilers detect all errors and warnings at compile time, so it is impossible to run the program without fixing errors.

Interpreter

• The interpreter reads a line of code and identifies existing errors. You must correct the errors to interpret the next line.

15- Input

compiler

• The whole program should be a compiler input.

Interpreter

• A line of code from the program can also be an interpreter input.

16- Output

compiler

• Compilers produce mid-level machine code.

Interpreter

• The interpreter produces no intermediate-level machine code.

17- Error

compiler

• The compiler displays all errors at compilation time.

Interpreter

• All errors are line by line.

18- Programming languages

compiler

• Programming languages ​​like C, C ++ and C #, Scala, and Java use the compiler.

Interpreter

• Programming languages ​​such as PHP, Perl, and Ruby use an interpreter.

The role of the compiler

• The compiler builds executable code from source code.
• The compiler converts software written in higher-level language into instructions the computer can understand. In other words, the compiler converts the text written by the programmer into a format that the computer CPU can understand.
• The compilation process is relatively complex, so analyzing and processing the program will be time-consuming.
• The compilation operation’s execution result will be a kind of binary code (01) for the machine.

The role of the interpreter

• The interpreter translates the code line by line during run time.
• Programs written in high-level language will be fully go into machine-level language.
• The interpreter spends relatively less time analyzing and processing the program.
• The programmer can evaluate or modify the running program using the interpreter.
• Execution of the program is slower than the compiler.

What are high-level languages?

High-level languages ​​such as C, C ++, Java, etc., are very similar to English and make the programming process easier. Of course, high-level languages must be converted to machine language by a compiler or interpreter before execution; they ​​are also known as source code.

What is a car code?

Machine code is similar to hardware; each computer system has its machine language. Machine language programs are made up of binary patterns (such as 110110), each representing an operation that a computer system must perform. Machine language programs are executable, so they can be run directly.

What is an Object Code?

When compiling source code, machine code generated for different processors, such as Intel, AMD, and ARM, will be different. For the code to be transferable, the source code must first be an Object Code.

They are also (like machine codes) mediocre codes that computer processors will not understand. Of course, these codes will go into the machine codes of the platform when the program is running.