Typically, a compiler transforms code written in a higher-level language such as C++ or Rust or Java into executable (runnable) code — so-called binary code or machine code . WebAssembly , for example, is a form of executable binary code that can be compiled from code written in C++, Rust, C#, Go, Swift, and several other languages and that can then be run on any web page, in any browser.

Most compilers perform either ahead-of-time (AOT) compilation or just-in-time (JIT) compilation.

The GNU gcc compiler is one well-known example of an AOT compiler. AOT compilers are typically invoked from the command line in a shell environment (from within a terminal or console) or within an IDE .

JIT compilers are typically not invoked directly but are instead built into software runtimes internally, for the purpose of improving performance. For example, all major browsers now use JavaScript engines that have built-in JIT compilers.

Compilers may also translate among higher-level languages — for example, from TypeScript to JavaScript — in which case, they are often sometimes referred to as transpilers .