How does a compiled language differ from an interpreted language?

The distinction between compiled and interpreted languages lies in how they are processed and executed by a computer. A compiled language translates the entire source code into machine code before execution. This means that the program is converted into a binary format that the processor can directly execute, which often results in faster runtime performance once the compilation is complete. The compilation step happens only once, and the generated machine code can be executed multiple times without needing to recompile.

In contrast, interpreted languages are executed line-by-line at runtime. This means that the source code is read, interpreted, and executed on the fly, which can slow down execution since it requires parsing and interpreting each instruction as it goes. Therefore, the statement that a compiled language executes before execution, while an interpreted language executes line-by-line accurately captures the fundamental difference between these two types of languages.

While compiled languages can sometimes perform faster than interpreted languages due to this pre-execution translation, it's not universally true that they are always slower or that they require no coding; coding is essential for both types of languages.