Interpreter

Compilers and Interpreters¶

Compilers¶

• translation: source program -> target program
• better performance: target program is faster

Interpreters¶

• execute the program in the most direct way
• easier to implement

Virtual Machine¶

• program written for virtual machines can be run cross-platform, as long as virtual machine is installed
• security: can limit what the program can do

Architecture of Compiler and Interpreter¶

• Front End: source code -> AST -> (IR) intermediate representation

  1. Lexical Analysis with lexer

  2. Syntactic Analysis with parser

  3. Semantic Analysis

• Back End:

  • Interpreter: executes AST or IR
  • Compiler: translates IR into machine code