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A computer game is written in a high-level programming language - OCR - GCSE Computer Science - Question 5 - 2023 - Paper 1
Question 5
A computer game is written in a high-level programming language. (a) State why the computer needs to translate the code before it is executed. (b) Either a compile... show full transcript
Worked Solution & Example Answer:A computer game is written in a high-level programming language - OCR - GCSE Computer Science - Question 5 - 2023 - Paper 1
Step 1
State why the computer needs to translate the code before it is executed.
Answer
The computer needs to translate the code before execution because high-level programming languages are designed for human readability and are not directly understood by the computer's hardware. Translation converts the high-level code into machine code, which the computer can execute directly.
Step 2
Describe two differences between how a compiler and an interpreter would translate the code.
Answer
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A compiler translates the entire high-level source code into machine code before execution, which results in a separate executable file. In contrast, an interpreter translates the source code line by line at runtime, executing each line as it goes without creating a separate executable.
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Errors detected by a compiler are reported after the entire code has been translated, allowing the programmer to fix them before running the program. In comparison, an interpreter stops at the first error it encounters during its line-by-line translation, making debugging potentially more immediate but also more challenging.