| No. | Compiler | Interpreter |
| 1 | Compiler takes entire program as an input. | Interpreter takes single instruction as an input. |
| 2 | Intermediate code is generated. | No Intermediate code is generated. |
| 3 | Memory requirement is more. | Memory requirement is less. |
| 4 | Error is displayed after entire program is checked. | Error is displayed for every instruction interpreted. |
| 5 | Example: C compiler | Example: BASIC |
| No. | Compiler | Assembler |
| 1 | It translates higher level language to machine code. | It translates mnemonic operation code to machine code. |
| 2 | Types of compiler, · Single pass compiler · Multi pass compiler | Types of assembler, · Single pass assembler · Two pass assembler |
| 3 | Example: C compiler | Example: 8085, 8086 instruction set |