To transform a
program written in a
high-level programming language from
source code into
object code.
Programmers write programs in a form called source code. Source code must go through several steps before it becomes an executable program. The first step is to pass the source code through a
compiler, which translates the high-level language
instructions into object code.
The final step in producing an executable program -- after the compiler has produced object code -- is to pass the object code through a linker. The linker combines modules and gives real values to all symbolic addresses, thereby producing machine code.
