Question

Who converts Assembly Language to Machine Language?

Answer 1

Answer: Assembler

Explanation:

An assembler is a special type of system software that serves as a translator between assembly language and machine language. Think of it as a helpful bridge that converts human-readable assembly code into the binary format that your computer's processor can actually understand and execute.

Assembly language uses mnemonics and symbolic names that are much easier for programmers to work with compared to pure binary code. For example, instead of writing complex sequences of 0s and 1s, programmers can write instructions like "ADD" or "MOV" which are more intuitive. However, since computers only understand machine language (binary code), we need the assembler to perform this crucial translation.

The assembler works by reading the assembly language source code line by line and converting each instruction into its corresponding machine language equivalent. This process is called assembly. During this process, the assembler also handles tasks like resolving memory addresses, managing labels, and checking for syntax errors in the code.

It's important to understand that this is different from other language translators. While compilers work with high-level languages like C++ or Java, and interpreters execute code line by line, assemblers specifically deal with the low-level assembly language. The relationship is direct and straightforward - typically, one assembly language instruction corresponds to one machine language instruction, making the assembler's job more straightforward compared to compilers that handle complex high-level constructs.