A language processor is a software program designed or used to perform tasks, such as processing program code to machine code. Language processors are found in languages such as Fortran and COBOL.
Examples of language processors
There are type main types of language processors.
Interpreter - allows a computer to interpret, or understand, what a software program needs the computer to do, what tasks to perform.
Translator - takes a program's code and translates it into machine code, allowing the computer to read and understand what tasks the program needs to be done, in its own native code. An assembler and a compiler are examples of translators.
The difference between an interpreter and a translator is that an interpreter is telling the computer what to do by interpreting the program's code for the computer. A translator takes the program's code and converts it to machine code, allowing the computer to read that machine code itself. The interpreter tells the computer what to do and the translator lets the computer figure out what to do by itself.