Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by tlrobinson 2958 days ago
It's a type of compiler. Just like a truck is a type of vehicle, and a car is another type of vehicle.
2 comments
omeid2 2958 days ago
They both have four wheels and transport atoms.

Why do you think it is helpful to be unambiguous between atoms that make up a human or atoms of any goods in the back of a truck? /s

link
monocasa 2958 days ago
Except that there's a true formal (in fact legal) distinction between a car and a truck (they have different emissions standards). The whole distinction between a 'transpilers' and other compilers on the other hand is 'what is the user going to do with the output'.
link
tlrobinson 2958 days ago
That's not the disinction I've seen. I like Wikipedia's:

> translates between programming languages that operate at approximately the same level of abstraction

That's fairly straightforward, though a bit subjective (which doesn't preclude a word from having meaning)

link