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compiler - 5 dictionary results

com⋅pil⋅er

[kuhm-pahy-ler]
–noun
1. a person who compiles.
2. Also called compiling routine. Computers. a computer program that translates a program written in a high-level language into another language, usually machine language. Compare interpreter (def. 3a).

Origin:
1300–50; ME compilour < AF; OF compileor < LL compīlātōr-. See compile, -er 2
com·pil·er   (kəm-pī'lər)   
n.  
  1. One that compiles: a compiler of anthologies.
  2. Computer Science A program that translates another program written in a high-level language into machine language so that it can be executed.

Compiler

Com*pil"er\, n. [OE. compiluor; cf. OF. compileor, fr. L. compilator.] One who compiles; esp., one who makes books by compilation.
compiler   (kəm-pī'lər)  Pronunciation Key 
A computer program associated with certain programming languages that converts the instructions written in those languages into machine code that can later be executed directly by a computer. See more at programming language.

compiler programming, tool
A program that converts another program from some source language (or programming language) to machine language (object code). Some compilers output assembly language which is then converted to machine language by a separate assembler.
A compiler is distinguished from an assembler by the fact that each input statement does not, in general, correspond to a single machine instruction or fixed sequence of instructions. A compiler may support such features as automatic allocation of variables, arbitrary arithmetic expressions, control structures such as FOR and WHILE loops, variable scope, input/ouput operations, higher-order functions and portability of source code.
AUTOCODER, written in 1952, was possibly the first primitive compiler. Laning and Zierler's compiler, written in 1953-1954, was possibly the first true working algebraic compiler.
See also byte-code compiler, native compiler, optimising compiler.
(1994-11-07)

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