Symbol table - Definition and Overview

In computer science, a symbol table is a data structure used by a language translator such as a compiler or interpreter, where each symbol in a program's source code is associated with information such as location, type and scope level.

A hash table implementation of a symbol table is common and the table is usually maintained throughout all phases of translation.

A symbol table can be a transient structure used only during a language translation process and then discarded, or it can be embedded in the output of that process for later exploitation, for example, during an interactive debugging session, or as a resource for formatting a diagnostic report during or after execution of a program.