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Strictly speaking though, the text itself isn't a program, it's the input to a program (a compiler) that produces an actual program. On the other hand, this def
by fasquoika 9y ago
Strictly speaking though, the text itself isn't a program, it's the input to a program (a compiler) that produces an actual program. On the other hand, this definition seems a little pedantic and you could even argue that the binary produced by the compiler isn't a program either, that a program consists entirely of its behavior.
- Koshkin 9y agoGenerally, this is not correct - compiling is not the only way to "translate" a program into an executable form: there are direct interpreters for many programming languages.
- fasquoika 9y agoI never said compiling was the only way, just that "translation" (as you put it) is in fact necessary.