Program Translation Techniques

The compilation process transforms the high-level language into low-level or machine-level language. In program translation, the method is the same, but the translation is taking place between different kinds/types of languages.

There are steps involved in program translation which are also called program translation techniques. Those are as follows:

• Binary Translation
• Hardware Synthesis
• Data Query Interpreters
• Compiled Simulations

Now we will go through each of these above techniques

Program Translation Techniques:

1. Binary Translation: Nowadays various companies are using binary translation techniques to improve and increase their software availability. In the compilation process, the compiler translates the binary code from one machine to another machine. The developers have developed the binary translator to translate the x86 code into Alpha and Sparc code. The binary translator also provides backward compatibility, which means we can use the data and interfaces from the older versions and can run successfully in the current version of the hardware or software.

2. Hardware Synthesis: In the hardware synthesis technique, the variables are represented as registers and the expressions are represented as combinational logic. High-level languages such as Verilog and VHDL (Very high-speed integrated circuit Hardware Description Language) are mainly used to design the hardware. The hardware designs are represented as RTL (Register Transfer Level). In this technique, the register transfer level automatically transfers into gates, and these gates are grouped together to form transistors and then print the layout.

3. Database Query Interpreter: To fetch the data from the database we use query language such as SQL (Structured Query Language). As software and hardware are the main components for building the application, same as languages are also used in some applications. 

In this technique, the database queries are formed using relational algebra and Boolean operators. For example, select (σ), project (π), and union (U) are examples of relational algebra, and Boolean operators are AND, OR, and NOT. And these database queries are then compiled into the commands to search the particular information from the database.

4. Compiled Simulation: Simulation is a basic technique that is mainly useful to validate a design. For validating the design, the input of the simulation must be containing the description of the design and some specific parameters to run the simulation. To validate a design, the simulation must simulate many possible number designs using different input sets. 
It takes many days to complete the high-performance machine. In this situation, the simulation becomes very costly. To overcome this situation we use compiled simulations because it is faster to compile the design and generates the machine code for the particular design naively. In the compiled simulation the simulated design is written in high-level languages such as Verilog or VHDL.