Colin Walls

The Colin Walls Blog on Embedded Software

This blog is a discussion of embedded software matters - news, comment, technical issues and ideas, along with other passing thoughts about anything that happens to be on my mind. I am a member of the marketing team of Mentor Graphics. Frequent presenter at conferences and seminars and author of numerous technical articles and two books on embedded software.

When compilers do magic

Posted by: Colin Walls in Software on Jul 19, 2010

Tagged in: Compiler

What is a compiler? Ask an average engineer and you will get an answer something like: “A software tool that translates high level language code into assembly language or machine code.” Although this definition is not incorrect, it is rather incomplete and out of date - so 1970s. A better way to think of a compiler is: “A software tool that translates an algorithm described in a high level language code into a functionally identical algorithm expressed in assembly language or machine code.” More words, yes, but a more precise definition.

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