GATE CS 2014 Set 2 Q.28 (CS Q.18): Runtime Environments and Parameter Passing

Which one of the following is NOT performed during compilation?

Dynamic memory allocation

Type checking

Symbol table management

Inline expansion

Official answer and solution

Solution

Distinguish compiler phases and tasks (compile time) from execution tasks (runtime).

Tasks performed during compilation:
- Type checking: Performed during the semantic analysis phase to ensure operands and operations have compatible types.
- Symbol table management: Maintained across all analysis and synthesis phases to track identifiers, types, scopes, and memory offsets.
- Inline expansion: Performed during the code optimization phase to replace function calls with function bodies to reduce call overhead.
Dynamic memory allocation:
- Allocation of memory on the heap (e.g., via malloc() or calloc() in C, or new in C++) occurs dynamically while the program runs, depending on runtime inputs and execution flow.
- Therefore, dynamic memory allocation is performed at runtime, NOT during compilation.

Final answer

Common trap

Confusing compile-time static memory layout (calculating offsets in activation records) with runtime dynamic allocation on the heap.

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