Programming Languages: Concepts and Implementation

4.3 Run-Time Systems: Methods of Executions

Ultimately, the series of translations must end and a representation of the original source program must be interpreted [see the bottom of Figure 4.2 labeled “Interpreter” (e.g., processor).] Therefore, interpretation must, at some point, follow compilation. Interpretation can be performed by the most primitive of interpreters—a hardware interpreter called a processor—or by a software interpreter—which itself is just another computer program being interpreted.

Interpretation by the processor is the more common and traditional approach to execution after compilation (for purposes of speed of execution; see approach ① in Figure 4.6). It involves translating the source program all the way down, through ...