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intermediate representation (IR)
A halfway code form a compiler uses between human source code and raw machine instructions.
Compilers rarely translate source directly to CPU instructions in one leap. They first lower it into an intermediate representation — a cleaner, structured form that's easy to analyze, optimize, and then emit as native code for any target. In microZeus the JIT builds an IR that 'fails closed,' and some constructs (like certain geometry-shader control flow) deliberately live outside that IR.
See also
- JITA compiler that turns code into fast native machine instructions on the fly, right as the program runs.
- JIT backendThe part of a JIT compiler that emits actual machine code for one specific CPU architecture.
- interpreterA program that runs code by reading and executing it step by step, without first compiling it to machine code.
- LLVMA large, mature open-source toolkit of reusable compiler parts used to build compilers and code generators.
Referenced by
interpreter · JIT · JIT backend · LLVM