Can you explain the compilation process and its main stages?

The compilation process is the transformation of source code into machine code that the computer can understand. The main stages are:

1. Lexical analysis — the source code is broken into tokens (keywords, identifiers, operators).
2. Syntax analysis — checks the correctness of the code structure, builds a parse tree (AST).
3. Semantic analysis — checks for semantic correctness (data types, scope).
4. Optimization — improves the code for better performance or smaller size.
5. Code generation — transforms the intermediate representation into machine code or bytecode.
6. Linking — combines with libraries and other modules to create an executable file.

In Flutter, for example, Dart code is compiled into native code (AOT) for release or into bytecode (JIT) for development.