What is the difference in performance between interpreted and compiled programming languages?

The main difference in performance between interpreted and compiled languages lies in how the code is executed:

• Compiled languages (e.g., C, C++) convert source code into machine code before running the program. This allows the program to be executed directly by the processor, ensuring high execution speed.

• Interpreted languages (e.g., JavaScript, Python) execute code line-by-line through an interpreter during runtime, which adds overhead and reduces performance.

As a result, compiled languages generally run faster, especially in tasks requiring intensive computations. However, modern interpreters and JIT compilation (Just-In-Time) significantly reduce the performance gap by combining the flexibility of interpreted languages with runtime optimizations.