Ch 5 · Translators · Theory
Topic 5 of 9 in System Software & the Toolchain — What Runs Your Programs — 2 lessons.
From Human Code to Machine Code
You write in a high-level language (Python, Java) that's easy for humans. The CPU only understands machine code (binary). A translator bridges the gap. There are three kinds:
Assembly & the Assembler
Assembly language uses short mnemonics (like ADD, LOAD) instead of raw binary — readable, but still very close to the hardware. An assembler converts it into machine code. It's the low-level counterpart to the high-level compilers and interpreters.