Search Result for "compiler": 
Wordnet 3.0

NOUN (2)

1. a person who compiles information (as for reference purposes);

2. (computer science) a program that decodes instructions written in a higher order language and produces an assembly language program;
[syn: compiler, compiling program]


The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Compiler \Com*pil"er\ (k[o^]m*p[imac]l"[~e]r), n. [OE. compiluor; cf. OF. compileor, fr. L. compilator.] 1. One who compiles; esp., one who makes books by compilation. [1913 Webster] 2. (Computers) a computer program that decodes instructions written in a higher-level computer language to produce an assembly-language program or an executable program in machine language. [WordNet 1.5 +PJC]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

compiler n 1: a person who compiles information (as for reference purposes) 2: (computer science) a program that decodes instructions written in a higher order language and produces an assembly language program [syn: compiler, compiling program]
The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (30 December 2018):

compiler A program that converts another program from some source language (or programming language) to machine language (object code). Some compilers output assembly language which is then converted to machine language by a separate assembler. A compiler is distinguished from an assembler by the fact that each input statement does not, in general, correspond to a single machine instruction or fixed sequence of instructions. A compiler may support such features as automatic allocation of variables, arbitrary arithmetic expressions, control structures such as FOR and WHILE loops, variable scope, input/ouput operations, higher-order functions and portability of source code. AUTOCODER, written in 1952, was possibly the first primitive compiler. Laning and Zierler's compiler, written in 1953-1954, was possibly the first true working algebraic compiler. See also byte-code compiler, native compiler, optimising compiler. (1994-11-07)