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[[Category:Program life cycle]]'''Compile time''' refers to the compilation phase of the program life cycle. The actions undertaken at this stage are referred as ''compile-time'', ''static'', and sometimes as ''early''. The term ''static'' is used in order to stress that the properties provable at compile-time stay valid for the program as a whole, and thus do not depend on the program's dynamic execution state. The term ''early'' is used as an opposite to ''late''.

In particular [[type checking|statically typed]] languages are often backed with the argument that errors need to be detected as early as possible. Some languages were specifically designed in a way to support an extensive static analysis of the program semantics.

The phases following to compile time are [[link time]] and [[run time]].

Compile-time actions are undertaken by a [[compiler]] or [[interpreter]]. These include lexical, and syntax and semantic analysis followed by [[code generation]], maintenance of the language development environment and error diagnostics. In a [[compiler]] the generated code is usually intermediate. In an [[interpreter]] the code is targeted for a corresponding virtual machine and is immediately executed on it.

Examples of use: compile-time error detection, compile-time object, compile-time constant, static analysis, static typing, static expression, early binding.