Software that converts a Java source program into bytecode (intermediate language) or to a just-in-time (JIT) compiler that converts bytecode into machine language. It may also refer to compiling ...

A compiler is a computer program that translates from one format to another, most often from a high-level computer language to byte code and machine code. Compilers come in a number of variations ...

The compiler is the software program capable of taking raw .java files—which are plain text—and rendering them into executable .class files. We’ll see the compiler in action soon.