Interpreter and Compiler

A compiler is a computer program responsible for translating a source code into a language form that can be directly run by the computer. There's though a minor difference between translator and compiler: a translator converts a program from its formal source code to a specific target language. Compilers are a special sort of translators which take program code often written in a high level language to run as machine code or intermediate code (e.g.: Bytecode, .NET-Code etc). This difference between translator and compiler isn't always pronounced in all cases. Programming languages such as C and C++ are compiler-based as they generate an exe file (if you're using windows) after being successfully compiled. An interpreter, on the other hand, doesn't convert source code into a portable format that can be run in a specific platform or system. Rather, an interpreter reads a code line by line and produces an output on a client or server platform. Interpreters need a specific environment setup in order to work properly. Examples of interpreted languages include Javascript and PHP.

Interpreter	Compiler
Translates code line by line.	Runs through whole program to generate an .exe file.
Reads faster but executes slower.	It takes more time to scan code but afterwards execution is faster than with an interpreter.
No intermediate code generated.	Intermediate object code that calls for linking, which in turn uses up more memory.
Translation stops at first error.	It throws an error message after scanning the entire code.
Input in the form of Single statements	The whole program is the input in compiled languages.