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I think this is just the way human language generally works being that it is organic and messy. In my field, there are numerous overlapping and even contradicto

I think this is just the way human language generally works being that it is organic and messy. In my field, there are numerous overlapping and even contradictory terms. I like the added distinction "transpiler" provides as I immediately know what the author means. Or the author could just use the term "compiler" plus another sentence to describe which kind. Transpiler seems like the more efficient way to convey the concept.

pron 7y ago
There is no "kind" though. "It compiles C to JS" and "it transpiles C to JS" mean the exact same thing. No added clarification is necessary, because there is just no distinction between the terms. On the contrary, if people think that "transpilation" has some distinct meaning, they are just being confused about what compilation is.
dom96 7y ago
Most people use the word transpiler incorrectly (if we look at Wikipedia’s definition). Nim to C is compiling because Nim is at a higher level of abstraction than C. If you think that any program that translates code from one language to another is a transpiler then I’ve got news for you, gcc and clang are transpilers. They translate C/C++ to Assembly after all.