Difference Between Assembler, Compiler And Interpreter

Difference Between Assembler, Compiler, And Interpreter

Language Processor

“Making Code Speak Computer: How Compilers and Interpreters Translate High-Level Languages, and Assemblers Decode Low-Level Code. Plus, Discover the Step-by-Step Compilation Process and Useful Tools for Error-Free Programming!”

“Computer languages come in two types: Assembly language, which depends on the type of computer it’s used for, and High-Level language, which is independent of any specific computer. A computer understands instructions in a special format called machine code, represented by 0 s and 1s. Writing programs directly in machine code is a difficult and time-consuming task.

Instead, most programmers use high-level languages like Java, C++, Python, etc., to write their programs. These programs are called ‘source code’. However, the computer cannot directly execute the source code since it only understands machine code.

The Language Processors are the follows:

A. Compiler

A Compiler is a type of language processor that takes the entire program written in a high-level language (like C, C++, C#) and translates it all at once into machine language. It’s like converting the whole code into a language that the computer can understand.

If the source code is free of errors, the compiler can successfully translate it into an object code. However, if there are any errors in the source code, the compiler will point them out at the end of the process, indicating the line numbers where the errors occur.To get the program to run smoothly, these errors must be fixed before recompiling. Once the code is error-free and successfully compiled into object code, it can be executed multiple times without needing to translate it again.

B. Assembler

“An Assembler is a special tool that translates programs written in Assembly language into machine code, which the computer can understand. In the source program, we write instructions using simple mnemonics like ADD, MUL, SUB, etc.

The Assembler acts as the first link between humans and machines, helping them communicate. It takes the program written in Assembly language as input and produces the machine code as output.

The machine code consists of 0s and 1s, and it depends on the specific computer’s architecture. The Assembler converts these mnemonics (instructions) into the corresponding binary code, bridging the gap between human-readable instructions and computer-executable instructions.”

C. Interpreter

“Think of an Interpreter as a friendly translator for computer programs. It takes one line of code at a time and quickly translates it into a language the computer can understand, right when it’s needed.If there’s a mistake in a line of code, the Interpreter stops and points it out, so we can fix it before moving forward.

Unlike a Compiler, which translates the entire program before running it, the Interpreter works step by step, translating and executing each line on the go.” Example: Perl, Python, and Matlab

Read this table to outline the Difference between Compiler, Assembler, and Interpreter.

Compiler	Assembler	Interpreter
A compiler will take all the instructions written in a programming language and turns them into a secret language that the computer can understand and follow. This secret language is called machine code, and it’s what makes the program run on the computer smoothly.	An Assembler is a special tool that translates programs written in Assembly language into machine code, which the computer can understand.	An Interpreter will run line by line and further translate each line accordingly after taking the source program
It needs a lot of memory for creating object codes.	Assembler will identify the error and then begins translating it into computer language	In this Processor, debugging is much easy since it translates until the error is found
The Compiler requires more time to analyse the entire source code however, the overall execution time is relatively faster.	Assembler is much faster than the compiler and equal to the speed of C	It needs less memory than the compiler
This Processor will outline the error after scanning the whole program, hence, debugging is hard since the error will be everywhere.	This Processor can save memory	No object code is generated.
It doesn’t provide much security.	The Compiler requires more time to analyze the entire source code however, the overall execution time is relatively faster.	A compiler is more useful for the security purpose.
Examples: C, C++, C #	Examples: ADD, MUL, SUB, etc.	Examples: Python, Perl, JavaScript and Ruby

FAQ – Compilers, Assemblers, And Interpreters