Interpreter

There are two ways computer code is run - the first way is to run the code as an 'executable'. This means that the code is loaded into memory and then allowed to run within the CPU by the operating system.

But there is a second way - namely code running through an interpreter. An interpreter accepts program instructions as an input, the interpreter then executes the code one line at a time.

The good thing about an interpreter is that it is easy to debug the code as if a line is faulty an error message will be displayed immediately. The less good thing about interpreter is that the code runs slower than an executable code.

Interpreted languages include BASIC and server-side languages such as Python.

2020-10