Are VB.NET to C# converters actually compilers?

Posted by Rowan Freeman on Programmers See other posts from Programmers or by Rowan Freeman
Published on 2013-10-28T06:49:11Z Indexed on 2013/10/28 10:01 UTC
Read the original article Hit count: 549

Filed under:

terminology

|

compilers

|

definition

Whenever I see programs or scripts that convert between high-level programming languages they are always labelled as converters.

"VB.NET to C# converter" on Google results in expected, useful hits.

However "VB.NET to C# compiler" on Google results in things like comparisons between the C# and VB.NET compilers and other hits that are not quite what you'd be looking for.

Webopedia defines Compiler as

A program that translates source code into object code

Eric Lipper in an answer to: "How do I create my own programming language and a compiler for it" suggests:

One of the best ways to get started writing a compiler is by writing a high-level-language-to-high-level-language compiler.

Is a converter really just a compiler? What separates the two?

© Programmers or respective owner

Related posts about terminology

Terminology for web app running on hardware

as seen on Stack Overflow - Search for 'Stack Overflow'
Hi, Let me start by saying I feel very silly asking this, hence the newbie tag. I am trying to investigate how to develop an UI application that will run directly on hardware. This will be very much like when you access the web based application within your router. I don't really know how what… >>> More
Is there tool agnostic terminology for source control activities?

as seen on Programmers - Search for 'Programmers'
My team is entering into some discussions on source control (process and possibly tools) and we would like a tool agnostic terminology for the various activities. The environment does have multiple (old) VCS's, and multiple desired (new) VCS's. Is there a standard definition of activities, or at least… >>> More
Claims-based Identity Terminology

as seen on Geeks with Blogs - Search for 'Geeks with Blogs'
There are several terms commonly used to describe claims-based identity, and it is important to clearly define these terms. · Identity In terms of Access Control, the term identity will be used to refer to a set of claims made by a trusted issuer about the user. · Claim You can think of a claim… >>> More
What is a "wrapper" program?

as seen on Programmers - Search for 'Programmers'
Where I work, employees use a third-party desktop program for their clients. This program saves data to a flat file. My colleague wants to write a Java program that uploads that flat file to a remote server, opens the desktop program when the flat file is downloaded from a Web site, and checks if… >>> More
How do you portray to non programmers what programming involves?

as seen on Programmers - Search for 'Programmers'
I get casually asked a lot to take a couple days to teach someone how to program. Most people really think they can learn what I know in a few days. When I tell them I have been doing this for many years and I can't teach them to be a programmer in a few days, they look at me like I am being a jerk… >>> More

Related posts about compilers

Advantages of compilers for functional languages over compilers for imperative languages

as seen on Stack Overflow - Search for 'Stack Overflow'
As a follow up to this question What are the advantages of built-in immutability of F# over C#?--am I correct in assuming that the F# compiler can make certain optimizations knowing that it's dealing with largely immutable code? I mean even if a developer writes "Functional C#" the compiler wouldn't… >>> More
What are modern and old compilers written in?

as seen on Stack Overflow - Search for 'Stack Overflow'
As a compiler, other than an interpreter, only needs to translate the input and not run it the performance of itself should be not that problematic as with an interpreter. Therefore, you wouldn't write an interpreter in, let's say Ruby or PHP because it would be far too slow. However, what about… >>> More
Is reading a book on compilers necessary to be a good programmer

as seen on Stack Overflow - Search for 'Stack Overflow'
I understand the basics of compilers, virtual machines and interpreters from reading overviews in other books. But I don't know the specifics. Do you think it is important to know the specifics and read an in depth book about compilers? If so, why and please suggest a book? >>> More
JIT compiler for C, C++, and the likes

as seen on Programmers - Search for 'Programmers'
Is there any just-in-time compiler out there for compiled languages, such as C and C++? (The first names that come to mind are Clang and LLVM! But I don't think they currently support it.) Explanation: I think the software could benefit from runtime profiling feedback and aggressively optimized… >>> More
Is Python Interpreted or Compiled?

as seen on Programmers - Search for 'Programmers'
This is just a wondering I had while reading about interpreted and compiled languages. Ruby is no doubt an interpreted language, since source code is compiled by an interpreter at the point of execution. On the contrary C is a compiled language, as one have to compile the source code first according… >>> More