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9. Summary of a compiler

A compiler has the following features

• A compiler translates source code into machine or object code
• A compiler translates the whole program as one complete unit
• It creates an executable file
• It is able to report on a number of errors in the code
• It may also report spurious errors
• It does not need to be present in order to run the code
• It can optimise source code to run as fast or as efficiently as possible
• Code portability - a compiler can target different processors using the same source code