A programmer might make use of both an interpreter and a compiler for different reasons.
An interpreter is a program that directly executes the source code of a program without first converting it to machine code. It reads the code line by line and executes each line immediately. Interpreted languages are often used for scripting, prototyping, and rapid development because changes to the code can be tested and executed quickly.
A compiler, on the other hand, is a program that translates the source code of a program into machine code that can be executed directly by the computer's processor. Compiled languages are often used for performance-critical applications because the compiled code is optimized for the target platform and can execute more quickly than interpreted code.
So, a programmer might use an interpreter during the development and testing phase of a program to quickly try out changes and see the results. Once the code is stable and ready for deployment, the programmer might use a compiler to create an optimized executable that can be distributed to end-users.
Another reason to use both an interpreter and a compiler is to take advantage of the strengths of each approach. For example, some languages like Java are first compiled into an intermediate bytecode that can be interpreted by a Java Virtual Machine (JVM). This allows the code to be compiled once and then run on any platform that has a compatible JVM, while still providing some of the performance benefits of compiled code.
In summary, a programmer might use both an interpreter and a compiler for different reasons, such as rapid prototyping, performance optimization, or platform independence.