what is a compiler?

Answer 1

A compiler is a computer program that takes the source code of another program and translates it into machine code that a computer can run directly.

Wikipedia says: "A compiler is a computer program (or set of programs) that translates text written in a computer language (the source language) into another computer language (the target language). The original sequence is usually called the source code and the output called object code.

The most common reason for wanting to translate source code is to create an executable program. The name "compiler" is primarily used for programs that translate source code from a high level language to a lower level language (e.g., assembly language or machine language). "

Answer 2

What the above said about compilers are all true. Basically, it takes a chunk of source code, and compiles it into a single program that can be run independently. Some compilers take multiple chunks of source code stored as different files, and compiles it together into a single program. You could also compile a program that links to other compiled programs. Windows for example uses DLLs (Dynamic Link Libraries) which are actually collections of smaller programs.

Compilers are the 2nd generation in computing in that, prior to compilers, programs were run using Interpretors. Interpretors would read the source code a line at a time and execute that line of code in real-time. This required that Interpretors were running at the same time as the actual program, which is not a very efficient way to do things.

When Compilers came along, they enabled programs to be run independently without the need of another program (ie the Interpretor) to translate source code into eg. a user-friendly interface.

Answer 3

it's a program that translates the source code made by programmers in some programming language like C into "machine code" that is read by the processor of the computer to run the program. The output of a compiler is normally binary code like executable files or binary libraries.

Answer 4

A compiler is a program that is used to convert its high level language into a native language for a certain computer architecture. This increases portability because if a compiler is written for PowerPc architecture and another is written for x86 architecture then you can compile the language into a certain one's own machine code.

Answer 5

As they all said, above, a compiler is the medium between you, the human bean, and the computer. It takes what you said and translates it into a form the strange beast, computer, can understand and (try to) act upon. You write down instructions that say, in your language, "do this until you burp" and a compiler translates it into the computer's "0100010101" or some such, mashing it down into a form you might not recognize at first, and you definitely couldn't pronounce to your mom in daily conversation.

Answer 6

A compiler takes your text based programming code that you write in VB or C++, all essential included function libraries and files included with your project and converts it all into machine language. That's why compiled language programs run faster then interpreted languages do... because it is already in the language that your computer understands-machine language.

Answer 7

A compiler takes code computer programmers write and turns it into an executable file (.exe).

Answer 8

A compiler is usually a program which take a bulky section of code and compresses it so it takes up less space. I believe, these days they normally change the format of the information too, like into an executable.

Feel free to correct me anyone

Answer 9

I’m surprised Google isn’t working for you. Or, don’t tell me, as an aspiring programmer, you haven’t learnt to Google yet. You’ll see two major recommendations over and over, which are good choices for beginners. The first is Visual C++. On a windows PC this is ideal. You can get a free version. Google for Visual C++ Express. The second is gcc. They make a C++ compiler. The windows version is under the name MinGW. Bloodshed Dev-C++ and many other IDEs use MinGW.

Answer 10

compiler is the translator which convert the languages to machine languages.

it reads the statement line by line and then executes the statement if there is no error.