Translators

Translators

1. Translators - usually included within programming software convert high level code into machine code

2. Assembler - An assembler translates assembly language into machine code. Assembly language is a low-level language written in mnemonics (eg. LDA) that closely reflects the operations of the CPU.

3. Interpreter - An interpreter translates code into machine code, instruction by instruction - the CPU executes each instruction before the interpreter moves on to translate the next instruction. Interpreted code will show an error as soon as it hits a problem, so it is easier to debug than compiled code.

   • An interpreter does not create an independent final set of source code - source code is created each time it runs. Interpreted code is slower to execute than compiled code.

4. Compiler - A compiler translates the whole program into machine code before the program is run. It can be difficult to test individual lines of compiled code compared to interpreted languages as all bugs are reported after the program has been compiled.

   • The machine code is saved and stored separately to the high-level code. Compilation is slow but machine code can be executed quickly.