An interpreter is a piece of software that reads in source code and executes the instructions there and then:-
http://www.syntaxbomb.com/forum/index.php/topic,113.0.html
No stand alone executable is created, and if the source code is to be used on another PC, the interpreter must go with it, but this isnt technically true, as you can hide that simple fact.
I programmed a new rewrite/revision of the source code above that piggy backs the source code at the end of the interpreter and reads it in from there, this means that it can go anywhere, just like a normal exe. Because of EULA problems and what not, it wont be released... It was a proof on concept thing I did while playing! :)
Interpreters and compilers share a lot of similar properties, the only difference is the back end, where a interpreter's back-end is the part that executes action in the source code, a compiler's back-end generates object code based on the source code.
Thats how I describe a compiler, but then, compilers have grown to incorporate a linker. When a linker is involved, the code generating part might be named as the middle-end.
A application than needs an interpreter executes slower than a compiled version of it.
Dabz
http://www.syntaxbomb.com/forum/index.php/topic,113.0.html
No stand alone executable is created, and if the source code is to be used on another PC, the interpreter must go with it, but this isnt technically true, as you can hide that simple fact.
I programmed a new rewrite/revision of the source code above that piggy backs the source code at the end of the interpreter and reads it in from there, this means that it can go anywhere, just like a normal exe. Because of EULA problems and what not, it wont be released... It was a proof on concept thing I did while playing! :)
Interpreters and compilers share a lot of similar properties, the only difference is the back end, where a interpreter's back-end is the part that executes action in the source code, a compiler's back-end generates object code based on the source code.
Thats how I describe a compiler, but then, compilers have grown to incorporate a linker. When a linker is involved, the code generating part might be named as the middle-end.
A application than needs an interpreter executes slower than a compiled version of it.
Dabz