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In that same vein, what's the point of the term "interpreter"? Isn't an interpreter just compiling source code into an in-memory representation, and then execut
by aji 11y ago
In that same vein, what's the point of the term "interpreter"? Isn't an interpreter just compiling source code into an in-memory representation, and then executing that?
I'd argue that terms like "interpreter", "compiler", "decompiler", "transpiler", etc. are helpful for establishing a general taxonomy of program transformation tools, even if the boundaries aren't so clear.
- monocasa 11y agoThe distinction between execution and transformation is a useful one. For instance, depending on the semantics of the source language, you could be able to guarantee termination of a specific transformation of that source, but not be able to guarantee termination of execution of that source.