What is a significant advantage of using an interpreter?

Study for the Western Governors University (WGU) ITEC2002 D322 Introduction to IT Exam. Utilize flashcards and multiple-choice questions with hints and explanations. Be fully prepared for your exam!

Using an interpreter has a significant advantage in that it allows for line-by-line execution and provides immediate feedback. This means that when programming, a developer can run their code incrementally, testing small sections of the program as they write it. This approach facilitates debugging and allows for immediate observation of how changes affect the program's behavior.

Interpreters read and execute the code sequentially, which means that developers can make changes and instantly see results without needing to compile the entire program first. This can lead to a more interactive and responsive coding experience, which is particularly beneficial in educational settings or during the development phase.

In contrast, compiling an entire program can take time and doesn't provide the same level of immediate response, as it requires the complete code to be translated into machine code before execution. Additionally, processing multiple files at once is typically a characteristic more associated with compilers rather than interpreters, which focus on executing one source code file at a time. Lastly, while memory efficiency can vary between interpreted and compiled languages, making a broad comparison that interpreters use less memory than compiled languages isn't universally accurate and can depend on many factors.

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