GATE CS 2014 Set 2 Q18 — Runtime Environments

To determine which task is not performed during compilation, let us analyze each option:

• Dynamic memory allocation (Option A): This refers to allocating memory on the heap during the execution (runtime) of the program (e.g., using malloc() in C or new in C++). The compiler merely generates the machine code instructions to request this memory, but the actual allocation happens only at runtime. Hence, this is not performed during compilation.
• Type checking (Option B): This is a key part of the semantic analysis phase of a compiler, where the compiler verifies that the types of operands match the expected types.
• Symbol table management (Option C): The symbol table is a crucial data structure maintained by the compiler across almost all phases (lexical, syntax, semantic analysis, etc.) to store information about identifiers, their types, scopes, and locations.
• Inline expansion (Option D): Also known as function inlining, this is an optimization technique performed by the compiler where a function call is replaced directly with the body of the called function to eliminate call overhead.

Therefore, Dynamic memory allocation is the only task that is not performed during compilation.