1.2.2 ( d. Translators: Interpreters, compilers and assemblers)

What is machine code?

- This is low-level code that represents how computer hardware and CPUs understand instructions.

- It is represented by binary numbers.

What is assembly code?

-Low level language

Humanly readable way of writing machine code.

eg. LDA 5

What is an assembler?

Assembler is a software that translates assembly language into machine language.

- Each processor has its own instruction set and so the object code produced will be hardware specific

What is object code?

A compiled program - a program translated into machine code

What is source code?

The human-readable text that programmers write using a specific programming language

What is a compiler?

A compiler translates a whole program written in a high level language into executable machine code, going through several stages​

- Resulting object code is hardware specific

What are example of compiled high level languages?

- Visual Basic

- C++

What is an interpreter?

An interpreter also translates code written in a high level language into machine code

However, the interpreter does this line by line

What are example of interpreted high level languages?

- JavaScript

- PHP

What are the difference between a compiler and interpreter?

Compiler:

- Program can be run many times without the need to recompile​

- Faster to execute ​

- Executable code does not require the interpreter to run​

- Compiled code cannot be easily read and copied by others

Interpreter:

- Source code can be run on any machine with the interpreter​

- If a small error is found, no need to recompile the entire program

What is bytecode?

The intermediate code between object and source code generated by the Java compiler

- Most languages are not solely compiled or interpreted