Transcompiler

Updated: 07/12/2017 by Computer Hope
Snippet of binary code.

A transcompiler, also called a source-to-source compiler or transpiler, is a special type of compiler that converts a program's source code into another language. It can also process a program written in an older version of a programming language, converting it to a newer version of the same language.

Additional transcompiler information

Many programming languages begin in a transcompiled state. For example, the earliest versions of C++ did not have a native compiler. Instead, C++ programs were transcompiled to the C programming language, and then changed over to binary using existing C compilers. Another use of transcompilation is to convert code that is already compiled into the source code of another language. An example is Emscripten, a transcompiler that converts C and C++ programs compiled with LLVM (Low-Level Virtual Machine) into JavaScript.

Programming terms