The process of translating source code written in a high-level programming language into machine code or another target language that can be executed by a computer. A compiler performs this translation before the program runs.
From Latin 'compilare' meaning 'to plunder' or 'to collect together,' from 'com-' (together) + 'pilare' (to compress). In computing since the 1950s, it describes collecting and transforming source code into executable form.
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