Interpreter Vs Compiler : Differences Between Interpreter and Compiler

01 Jun 2021

In this article, you will learn the differences between interpreters and compilers.

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.

To convert source code into machine code, we use either a compiler or an interpreter.

Both compilers and interpreters are used to convert a program written in a high-level language into machine code understood by computers. However, there are differences between how an interpreter and a compiler works.

Interpreter Vs Compiler

Interpreter	Compiler
Translates program one statement at a time.	Scans the entire program and translates it as a whole into machine code.
Interpreters usually take less amount of time to analyze the source code. However, the overall execution time is comparatively slower than compilers.	Compilers usually take a large amount of time to analyze the source code. However, the overall execution time is comparatively faster than interpreters.
No Object Code is generated, hence are memory efficient.	Generates Object Code which further requires linking, hence requires more memory.
Programming languages like JavaScript, Python, Ruby use interpreters.	Programming languages like C, C++, Java use compilers.

Working of Compiler and Interpreter