compiler

Pronunciation:		kum'pIlur
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Matching Terms:		compile, compiled html, compilement, compiler compiler, compiler jock, compiler language for information processing, compiler target language, compiler-compiler
WordNet Dictionary

	Definition:	[n] (computer science) a program that decodes instructions written in a higher order language and produces an assembly language program [n] a person who compiles (or writes for) encyclopedias

	Synonyms:	compiling program, encyclopedist

	See Also:	author, C compiler, computer program, computer programme, Fortran compiler, LISP compiler, parser, Pascal compiler, program, programme, writer

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

	Definition:	\Com*pil"er\, n. [OE. compiluor; cf. OF. compileor, fr. L. compilator.] One who compiles; esp., one who makes books by compilation.

Computing Dictionary

	Definition:	A program that converts another program from some source language (or programming language) to machine language (object code). Some compilers output assembly language which is then converted to machine language by a separate assembler. A compiler is distinguished from an assembler by the fact that each input statement does not, in general, correspond to a single machine instruction or fixed sequence of instructions. A compiler may support such features as automatic allocation of variables, arbitrary arithmetic expressions, control structures such as FOR and WHILE loops, variable scope, input/ouput operations, higher-order functions and portability of source code. autocoder, written in 1952, was possibly the first primitive compiler. laning and zierler's compiler, written in 1953-1954, was possibly the first true working algebraic compiler. See also byte-code compiler, native compiler, optimising compiler.

	See Also:	programming, tool

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