In computer science, an intermediate language is the language of an abstract machine designed to aid in the analysis of computer programs. The term comes from their use in compilers, where the source code of a program is translated into a form more suitable for code-improving transformations before being used to generate object or machine code for a target machine. The design of an intermediate language typically differs from that of a practical machine language in three fundamental ways:

• Each instruction represents exactly one fundamental operation; e.g. "shift-add" addressing modes common in microprocessors are not present.
• Control flow information may not be included in the instruction set.
• The number of processor registers available may be large, even limitless.