Question

What do you call a program that both translates and executes the instructions in a high-level language program?

Short answer

Answer: An interpreter is a computer program that translates and executes high-level language program instructions line by line. Its advantages include faster development and easier debugging, while it may have slower execution compared to compiled programs.

Step-by-step solution

Define the term

A program or tool that both translates and executes instructions in a high-level language program is called an interpreter.

Explain how the interpreter works

An interpreter translates and executes high-level program code into machine code or intermediate code line by line. It reads each line of code, interprets it by decoding the high-level language into machine instructions, and then immediately executes those instructions. This process is repeated for each line of code until the program is fully executed.

Advantages and disadvantages of using an interpreter

One advantage of using an interpreter is that it allows for faster development, as code can be run and tested without the need to compile the entire program beforehand. This makes debugging and making incremental changes easier. However, a program run by an interpreter may have slower execution compared to a compiled program, as the translation and execution process is done line by line during runtime.