Intermediate Representation
Fred Chow · Queue · 2013
Program compilation is a complicated process. A compiler is a software program that translates a high-level source language program into a form ready to execute on a computer. Early in the evolution of compilers, designers introduced IRs (intermediate representations, also commonly called intermediate languages) to manage the complexity of the compilation process. The use of an IR as the compiler’s internal representation of the program enables the compiler to be broken up into multiple phases and components, thus benefiting from modularity.