A programmer wants to write code that will be more efficient when executed at runtime. Which of the following language types should the programmer use?

Compiled languages are translated into machine-native code by a compiler before the program is executed. This pre-execution translation allows the compiler to perform extensive optimizations, resulting in a binary file that runs directly and efficiently on the computer's hardware. This process generally yields significantly faster runtime performance compared to interpreted (scripting) languages, which are translated line-by-line during execution. Markup and query languages are not designed for general-purpose application development and are therefore not relevant choices for optimizing runtime efficiency.

A. Markup languages, such as HTML, define the structure and presentation of data; they do not contain computational logic and are not executed for performance.
C. Query languages, like SQL, are specialized for retrieving data from databases and are not used for writing general-purpose, high-performance applications.
D. Scripting languages are typically interpreted, meaning the code is translated at runtime. This interpretation step adds overhead, making them generally slower than compiled languages.

1. Aho

A. V.

Lam

M. S.

Sethi

R.

& Ullman

J. D. (2007). Compilers: Principles

Techniques

and Tools (2nd ed.). Pearson/Addison Wesley. In Chapter 1

Section 1.1.2

"The Analysis-Synthesis Model of Compilation

" the text explains that a compiler translates a source program into a target program

which can then be executed. The text notes

"An interpreter

by contrast

appears to directly execute the operations specified in the source program... The machine-language target program produced by a compiler is usually much faster than an interpreter at mapping inputs to outputs." (p. 2).

2. Patt

Y. N.

& Patel

S. J. (2004). Introduction to Computing Systems: From Bits & Gates to C & Beyond (2nd ed.). McGraw-Hill. Chapter 10

"The High-Level Language

" discusses the translation process. It states

"The compiler translates the C program into an executable image... The advantage of compilation is that

once compiled

the program can be executed over and over without the need for re-translation... This results in much faster program execution." (p. 258).

3. Carnegie Mellon University. (2016). 15-213/18-213: Introduction to Computer Systems

Fall 2016 Course Schedule. Lecture 1: Course Overview. The course materials distinguish between compiled and interpreted languages

emphasizing that compiled languages like C are translated into machine code for direct execution by the processor

which is a key reason for their high performance.