The Analytical Engine Online: Program Translation

How can a computer, which is capable of executing only programs written in binary machine language, run a program in a "high-level" language, such as JavaScript? The following lab exercises will demonstrate for you how a translator can convert code written by human programmers into machine executable commands.

Lab 6.1: Representations

Lab 6.2: Parsing Out

Lab 6.3: Generating Code

Lab 6.4: Symbols and Bits

Introduce the binary representation of information used by modern computers
Show how program statements can be translated into machine language using parse trees
Introduce several contemporary high-level languages, concentrating on how they make the programming process more efficient
Take a brief look at the problems involved in translating high-level languages into executable instructions

Module Quiz

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References

The text portion of this module addresses the question of how a computer which understands binary¹ machine language² can execute the kind of instructions we write in high-level programming languages³, like JavaScript⁴, detailed in Module 5. The answer, of course, is that it turns programs on themselves, to serve as translators. The structure and typical content of these different languages, as well as the techniques employed by the translator programs, are the focus of this module.
¹pp. 203–205, 243, 273–274, 282
²pp. 210, 216
³pp. 16, 126, 218-220
⁴pp. 126, 127, 139–196, 149

Like modern translator programs, the Rosetta Stone accomplished its translation in stages (converting hieroglyphics, first into demotic, and then into Greek). Replace hieroglyphic with high-level programming language, demotic with assembly language, and Greek with machine language, and you've got a reasonable model for how modern computers implement modern programming languages. Thus, the Rosetta Stone serves as an effective metaphor for this module.

	Print References
The text portion of this module addresses the question of how a computer which understands binary¹ machine language² can execute the kind of instructions we write in high-level programming languages³, like JavaScript⁴, detailed in Module 5. The answer, of course, is that it turns programs on themselves, to serve as translators. The structure and typical content of these different languages, as well as the techniques employed by the translator programs, are the focus of this module.	¹pp. 203–205, 243, 273–274, 282 ²pp. 210, 216 ³pp. 16, 126, 218-220 ⁴pp. 126, 127, 139–196, 149
Like modern translator programs, the Rosetta Stone accomplished its translation in stages (converting hieroglyphics, first into demotic, and then into Greek). Replace hieroglyphic with high-level programming language, demotic with assembly language, and Greek with machine language, and you've got a reasonable model for how modern computers implement modern programming languages. Thus, the Rosetta Stone serves as an effective metaphor for this module.

MODULES: