Consider the following statements regarding the front-end and back-end of a compiler. S1: The front-end includes phases that are independent of the target hardware. S2: The back-end includes phases that are specific to the target hardware. S3: The back-end includes phases that are specific to the programming language used in the source code. Identify the CORRECT option. A) Only S1 is TRUE. B) Only S1 and S2 are TRUE. C) S1, S2, and S3 are all TRUE. D) Only S1 and S3 are TRUE.

Official answer: B) Only S1 and S2 are TRUE.. Explanation: A compiler is typically organized into two main parts: 1. Front-End: Consists of lexical analysis, syntax analysis, semantic analysis, and intermediate code generation. These phases depend on the source programming language and are largely independent of the target machine/hardware. Therefore, S1 is TRUE. 2. Back-End: Consists of machine-dependent code optimization, code generation, and register allocation. It operates on the intermediate representation (IR) to generate code for a specific target architecture. Thus, the back-end depends on the target hardware and is completely independent of the source language. Therefore, S2 is TRUE and S3 is FALSE. Hence, only S1 and S2 are TRUE, which corresponds to option (B).

C) S1, S2, and S3 are all TRUE.

Intermediate Code Generation

GATE CSE 2023 · Q11

MCQ1 markEasy

Time00:00

Consider the following statements regarding the front-end and back-end of a compiler. $\textbf{S1}$ : The front-end includes phases that are independent of the target hardware. $\textbf{S2}$ : The back-end includes phases that are specific to the target hardware. $\textbf{S3}$ : The back-end includes phases that are specific to the programming language used in the source code. Identify the CORRECT option.

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Official answer: B) Only S1 and S2 are TRUE.

Intermediate Code Generation

A compiler is typically organized into two main parts:

Front-End: Consists of lexical analysis, syntax analysis, semantic analysis, and intermediate code generation. These phases depend on the source programming language and are largely independent of the target machine/hardware. Therefore, S1 is TRUE.
Back-End: Consists of machine-dependent code optimization, code generation, and register allocation. It operates on the intermediate representation (IR) to generate code for a specific target architecture. Thus, the back-end depends on the target hardware and is completely independent of the source language. Therefore, S2 is TRUE and S3 is FALSE.

Hence, only S1 and S2 are TRUE, which corresponds to option (B).

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This Intermediate Code Generation previous year question is Q11 of the GATE CSE 2023 paper. Find more GATE CSE PYQs on Intermediate Code Generation in Compiler Design, or browse all GATE CSE PYQs.

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Intermediate Code Generation in GATE CSE

Intermediate Code Generation has 14 GATE CSE PYQs across 12 papers from 2011 to 2025. 5 of them are 1-mark MCQs like this one, and it is the only one in GATE CSE 2023.

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