Compiler VS Interpreter

C++ with Vatsal

This series will introduce you to the basics of C++ with some moderate and possibly advanced concepts with some interesting relatable examples to make it more interacting and fun. Let's Begin!! 

Compiler VS Interpreter

--> INTRODUCTION 

What is Compiler??

A compiler is a computer program which helps you transform source code written in a high-level language into low-level machine language.

What is Interpreter??

An interpreter is a computer program that executes each of a set of high-level instructions before going to the next instruction.

Languages Supporting:

COMPILER:-   C, C++, Erlang, Haskell, Rust, and Go

INTERPRETER:- PHP, Ruby, Python, and JavaScript          

Difference between Source code & Machine code:-    

                                                            

We generally write a computer program using a high-level language. A high-level language is one that is understandable by us, humans. This is called source code.

However, a computer does not understand high-level language. It only understands the program written in 0's and 1's in binary, called the machine code.

Fun Fact: Is it possible to write a program with only 1's and 0's in it????

Solution: It is actually possible but it is pretty complex. Let's see an example.......

--> Working

COMPILER:-

• Compiler scans the entire program and translates the whole of it into machine code at once.
• A compiler takes a lot of time to analyze the source code. However, the overall time taken to execute the process is much faster.
• A compiler always generates an intermediary object code. It will need further linking. Hence more memory is needed.
• A compiler generates the error message only after it scans the complete program and hence debugging is relatively harder while working with a compiler.

INTERPRETER:-

• Interpreter translates just one statement of the program at a time into machine code.
• An interpreter takes very less time to analyze the source code. However, the overall time to execute the process is much slower.
• An interpreter does not generate an intermediary code. Hence, an interpreter is highly efficient in terms of its memory.
• Keeps translating the program continuously till the first error is confronted. If any error is spotted, it stops working and hence debugging becomes easy.

COMPARISON:-                                                                                             More Efficient: 👍

                                                                                                                          Less Efficient: 👎

                                                                 

Time taken to execute the source code:          Compiler  👎            Interpreter  👍  

Overall time taken:                                               Compiler  👍            Interpreter  👎  

Memory efficiency:                                              Compiler  👎            Interpreter  👍 

Ease in debugging:                                               Compiler  👎            Interpreter  👍