Are VB.NET to C# converters actually compilers?

Posted by Rowan Freeman on Programmers See other posts from Programmers or by Rowan Freeman
Published on 2013-10-28T06:49:11Z Indexed on 2013/10/28 10:01 UTC
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terminology

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compilers

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definition

Whenever I see programs or scripts that convert between high-level programming languages they are always labelled as converters.

"VB.NET to C# converter" on Google results in expected, useful hits.

However "VB.NET to C# compiler" on Google results in things like comparisons between the C# and VB.NET compilers and other hits that are not quite what you'd be looking for.

Webopedia defines Compiler as

A program that translates source code into object code

Eric Lipper in an answer to: "How do I create my own programming language and a compiler for it" suggests:

One of the best ways to get started writing a compiler is by writing a high-level-language-to-high-level-language compiler.

Is a converter really just a compiler? What separates the two?

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