Eli5: If a compiler is a program that converts your code into binary form for the computer, unless my understanding is incorrect and it isn’t just a program, wouldn’t the compiler also need a compiler to run it since how do you run a program without a compiler?
In: 360
Going to keep my answer as short as possible.
The first compilers were written directly in machine code (1s and 0s) or assembly (basic English instructions like ‘mov’ or ‘jmp’ which got directly translated 1:1 to machine code instructions).
As compilers got better, more common, and we had a few lying around, it became a lot easier just to write the “new and improved,” compiler using the older compiler.
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