Difference between Assembler and Interpreter

Assembler and Interpreter both programs are system programs that are mainly utilized for language translation. They get a computer system program in one language and translate it to another computer language. However, their working processes are different. A system program that takes the assembly language code and translates it to system language code is known as an assembler. In contrast, the interpreter program accepts source code in a high-level language and translates it to system language code.

In the case of an assembler, the program source code must be translated, linked, and loaded before it may be executed. In contrast, the source code is directly converted in the event of an interpreter program.

In this article, you will learn about the difference between Assembler and Interpreter. But before discussing the differences, you must know about Assembler and Interpreter with their advantages and disadvantages.

What is Assembler in Computer?

Assembler is a computer system program that is utilized to convert assembly code into system or machine code that can be relocated. It is a type of low-level computer language. It sends instructions to the processors for various tasks and is unique to each processor. It is difficult to develop programs in it because the machine language only consists of 0s and 1s (Bit format). The assembly language is similar to a machine language but has a simpler language and code.

As a result, users require an assembler to translate assembly code to machine code. It doesn't resolve all external references in the assembly code during the code translation. Later, the linker resolves these references. As a result, it is quite fast at translation. It creates machine language code in the form of an executable file. As a result, it required memory for the storing of this program.

Types of Assembler

Assembler has mainly two types. These are as follows:

1. One-Pass Assembler

The one-pass assembler translates the assembly language code to a machine language code in a single pass.

2. Two/Multi-Pass Assembler

It translates the assembly code to system code in two or many passes. Two-pass assembler processes are:

1. In the first pass, these assembler's tools process the assembly language code, and values are stored in the symbol table and opcode table.
2. In the second pass, they create the machine code.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Assembler

There are various advantages and disadvantages of assemblers. Some advantages and disadvantages of assembler are as follows:

Advantages

1. Control

Assembler programs enable the developers more control over their program's hardware and memory layout, which may be useful for optimizing performance and accessing low-level system features.

2. Learning

It may be a useful tool for learning about computer architecture and how computers perform at the most fundamental level.

3. Size

It may be smaller in size than programs written in higher-level languages as they do not utilize libraries or other support codes.

4. Speed

Assembly language programs may run faster than higher-level language programs as they are closer to the machine code that the computer runs and don't need the extra translation steps that higher-level languages perform.

5. System Portability

Assemblers may be more portable than those programs that are written in higher-level languages as they do not depend on specialized libraries or runtime environments.

Disadvantages

1. Complexity

Assemblers are difficult to write and debug because they lack high-level language syntax to help catch problems.

2. Vulnerability

Assembler programs are more vulnerable to faults and problems than high-level language programs because they need the programmer to manage low-level features of the computer's architecture manually.

3. Speed

These are often slower and less efficient than high-level language programs that are compiled into machine code.

4. Execution

These are machine-dependent, which means they may only execute on a certain type of computer system. It can make it complex to transfer programs from one system to another.

5. Readability

These are frequently more complex to read and understand than programs that are written in high-level languages.

What is Interpreter in Computer?

The interpreter is a language converter that converts high-level language source code to system code. It does not generate any intermediary programs during this translation and requires less memory to store the code than other language translators. Unlike compilers, it translates the source code to system code line by line. The scanning time of the program is reduced since it checks each line individually. Nonetheless, the entire execution time of the program is higher.

The interpreter only shows one error at a time, and the programmer must correct that error to read the next line. Several programming languages, such as Python, MATLAB, Perl, and Ruby, use intermediate code to run the source code. The interpretation of the precompiled code is handled by UCSD Pascal. Furthermore, certain languages, including Java, BASIC, and Smalltalk, first generate an intermediate code by compiling the source and then interpreting it.

Types of Interpreter

There are various types of the interpreter. Some main types of the interpreter are as follows:

1. Bytecode Interpreter

The compiler compiles the source code before converting it to bytecode. Bytecode is not quite system code, but it is a compressed and streamlined form of source code. After that, the interpreter converts the bytecode to the machine code.

2. Abstract Syntax Tree (AST) Interpreter

It represents the source code in the form of a tree. The source code structure is sent to the interpreter via this tree, and it is interpreted by the ATS interpreter to generate machine code.

3. Threaded Code Interpreter

It is a method that is utilized to create virtual machine interpreters. It is identical to a bytecode interpreter, but by utilizing the pointers, it accesses the instructions or functions in the source code.

4. Self-Interpreter

It is capable of interpreting itself. A BASIC interpreter is the most widely utilized self-interpreter. If no compiler exists for a given language, a self-interpreter is produced.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Interpreter

There are various advantages and disadvantages of the interpreter. Some advantages and disadvantages of the interpreter are as follows:

Advantages

1. Debugging

The program is often easier to debug, written in interpreted languages, because the interpreter may offer real-time feedback on source code errors that allows the developers to resolve the issues very quickly and efficiently.

2. Interactive Mode

Several interpreters have an interactive mode that enables the users to submit commands and immediately see the results, which is very useful for experimenting and learning.

3. Quickly Development

The interpreted languages may typically be created more quickly than compiled languages because modifications to the code may be written and verified instantly without the requirement for a lengthy compilation process.

4. Portability

The program written in interpreted languages may be executed on any system with the interpreter installed, eliminating the need to recompile for every platform.

5. Memory Management

Interpreters frequently handle memory management automatically, simplifying programming and minimizing the chance of memory-related problems.

Disadvantages

1. It offers a faster development cycle by executing code line by line, enabling the developers to check and debug their programs in real-time.
2. It offers better error reporting than compilers as they may report problems on a line-by-line basis, making it simpler to detect and repair errors in the code.
3. Interpreters are more suited for scripting languages since they enable rapid prototyping and development of small applications.
4. Interpreters are simpler to utilize than compilers since they do not need a different compilation phase.
5. The interpreters are platform-agnostic, which means that the programming code is written in a high-level language and may be run on any system with the interpreter installed.

Key differences between Assembler and Interpreter

Here, you will learn the various key differences between assembler and interpreter. Some main differences between assembler and interpreter are as follows:

1. The assembler is a unique type of compiler that converts the available assembly language into machine or system code. In contrast, the interpreter takes a high-level language source code and converts the program instructions line by line into the system of machine instructions.
2. The assembler detects errors in the assembly code before the program execution. In contrast, the interpreter detects the error in the source code during the code execution.
3. The assembler converts the assembly code to machine code during the program execution. On the other hand, the interpreter converts the source code instructions to machine code instructions during program execution.
4. As an assembler creates an executable file, it needs memory space for its storage. In contrast, as the interpreters do not create such files, they do not need memory for their storage.
5. The assembler converts the complete program before executing. In contrast, the interpreter converts the program commands Line by Line.
6. The assembler produces relocatable machine language code in the form of an executable file. In contrast, no such file is generated by the interpreter.
7. The assembler tool is quicker because it does not fix any external references in the source code. In contrast, the interpreter tool is much slower because it fixes all external references in the source code.
8. The compiler creates the assembly language code that is accepted by the assembler. In contrast, the interpreter takes high-level language source code.
9. After the assembler transforms the assembly language code to relocatable machine code, you don't need the source code for each execution. On the other hand, the interpreter needs the source code every time during its executed because it doesn't generate an executable file.
10. The assembler program is designed for specific hardware. In contrast, the interpreter software is designed for a specific language.

Head-to-head comparison between the Assembler and Interpreter

Here, you will learn the head-to-head comparison between the assembler and interpreter. Various head-to-head comparisons between the assembler and interpreter are as follows:

Conclusion

Assemblers and interpreters both differ from one another. In general, a compiler is a software program that reads a program that is written in one language and converts it to another language. Usually, the source language is a high-level language like C++, and the target language is a low-level language like Assembly. However, compilers can convert an Assembly language source code to machine or object code. In contrast, the interpreters are tools that run the program that is written in a programming language. The interpreter can either immediately execute high-level source code or convert it to intermediate code, which can be interpreted or executed.