Can you explain the differences between an interpreting and a compiling program?

The interpreting program (interpreter) and the compiling program (compiler) differ in the way they execute source code:

• Compiler translates the entire source code into machine code (or intermediate code) before running the program. After compilation, an executable file is produced, which is run directly by the processor. This usually provides higher execution speed.

• Interpreter reads the source code line by line or in blocks during execution and immediately executes the commands without creating a separate executable file. This allows for quick testing and running of code, but is generally slower compared to compilation.

Example:

• Python is mainly an interpreted language (although it can be compiled into byte-code).
• C/C++ are compiled languages.

Thus, the compiler transforms the code in advance, while the interpreter executes the code on the fly.