To keep track of variable names and their attributes
To optimize the code
To perform lexical analysis
Questions & Step-by-Step Solutions
What is the role of a symbol table in a compiler?
Step 1: Understand that a compiler is a program that translates code from one programming language to another.
Step 2: Know that during this translation, the compiler needs to keep track of various elements in the code, like variable names.
Step 3: The symbol table is a special data structure used by the compiler to store information about these elements.
Step 4: The symbol table holds details such as the names of variables, their types (like integer or string), and their scopes (where they can be used in the code).
Step 5: When the compiler processes the code, it checks the symbol table to find out information about variables and ensure they are used correctly.
