A topic on the ArchLinux forums caught my attention today…

A compiler literally compiles a list of machine code instructions,
the object code, based on the source code. The resulting object code
is a ready-to-run program that is very fast, but which may crash the
computer
.
– “Programming Language,” Microsoft Encarta 96 Encyclopedia.

Is that true? :D
Maybe in the Microsoft world… as one of the ArchLinux users said there…

Here’s a more adequate definition.