Can you explain what is meant by a programming language that needs to be compiled before execution?

A programming language that needs to be compiled before execution is a language whose source code is transformed into machine code or intermediate code using a compiler before the program runs.

Compilation is the process of converting human-readable code into a format understandable by a computer (for example, machine code). After compilation, an executable file or a set of bytecode is produced, which can be run without additional processing.

Examples of languages requiring compilation: C, C++, Go, Rust.

Unlike interpreted languages (such as Python, JavaScript), where code is executed line-by-line by an interpreter during runtime, compiled languages generally offer higher performance because the code is already prepared for execution.

Example:

• Wrote a program in C.
• Compiled it using a compiler (gcc) into an executable file.
• Ran the resulting file without the need for recompilation.