Software

Software

1. compiler

   • used to turn high level code into machine code
   • translates all of the source code at the same time and creates one exacutable fille
   • only needed once to create the executable file
   • once compiled the program runs quicly but compiling can take a long time

2. interpreters

   • translates all of the source code at the same time and creates one exacutable fille
   • needed every time but doesn t create an executable file
   • the interprenter will return the first error it finds and then stop - this is useful for debugging

3. high level languages

   • one instruction of high level code represents many instructions of machine code
   • the same code will work for many different machines and processors
   • the programmer cna easily store data in lots of different structures
   • must be translated into machine code before a computer is able to understand it
   • you don t have much control over what the cpu actually dores so programs will be less memory efficient and slower

4. low level languages

   • one instruction of assembly code usually only represents one instruction of machine code.
   • the programmer needs to know about the internal structure of the cpu and how it manages the memory
   • code is very difficult to read, understand and modify directly without the need for a translator
   • you control exactly what the cpu does and how it uses memory so programs will be more memory efficient and faster