Ask HN: Does the name Transpiler exists in Computer Science literature

2 points·pantuza··4 comments

I always hear people saying some project is a transpiler. Although, does formal Computer Science books about compilers calls a source-to-source compiler a transpiler? Is it a formal thing or just a buzzword. Honest question, not vilifying the term.

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There's a general understanding by some (myself included) to use transpiler to specify converting from one language's source to another (Ex: converting JavaScript to Python). Is that just a compiler? Yes without a doubt. However, compiler usually means from something like C source to Assembly in a lot of common use (certainly not always the case though).

This topic causes a lot of grief on here though. It might be a classic case where the technical/defined definition has diverged from the vernacular. In a sense both are right.

Compiler is, and will always be, the general term for source-to-source translation.

I believe a transpiler is especially for source-to-source translations where the source and target have the same abstraction level. For example, Python's tool 2to3 could be called a transpiler.

Therefore, you would not use the term "transpiler" for something like Typescript to LLVM IR (if it exists).

https://scholar.google.com/scholar?as_sdt=2007&q=transpiler&...

It’s not a good question to ask.

One person’s formal thing is another person’s buzzword.

I would point to the word ‘Soliton’ in physics which is used for two different things.

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