Translator (computing)

An acronym for translation or programming language processor, a translator or programming language processor may refer to anything that translates code from one computer language to another in a general sense. A source programme is a programme that has been developed in a high-level programming language. Translations between high-level and human-readable computer languages such as C++ and Java, intermediate-level languages such as Java bytecode, low-level languages such as the assembly language and machine code, and between similar levels of language on different computing platforms, as well as from any of the foregoing to another, are all examples of what is known as machine translation.

Additionally, the word is used to refer to translators who translate between software and hardware implementations (ASICs microchips) of the same programme, and who translate between software specifications of a microchip and the logic gates required to construct it.