4 ms·

That is called a compiler.

• monochromatic 11y ago
  Eh, it isn't starting with source code.
  • poizan42 11y ago
    In the broadest sense a compiler is any program that translates between different representations af a program. In that sense one can also consider a decompiler as a compiler. Also we usually use the term compilation (or more specifically Ahead Of Time and Just In Time compilation) for when we translate bytecode into machinecode.
    • monochromatic 11y ago
      Well, sure. I'm just saying that calling this something more specific than "compiler" isn't wrong.
• poizan42 11y ago
  Transpilers are compilers... The term is usually used for a compiler which compiles between languages at about the same level of abstraction.
  • pjmlp 11y ago
    A term that I only started seeing after the crazyness to compile to JavaScript started and a part of my major was compiler design.
  • cwp 11y ago
    The term is usually used by people that don't know what compilers are. Snark aside, I think this is actually the case. I bet there are a LOT of CoffeeScript/Javascript developers who have never worked in a compiled language.
    • deleted 11y ago
      [deleted]