The document provides an overview of the topics covered in a compiler course, including: 1) The course will cover techniques used in modern compilers such as lexical analysis, syntax analysis, intermediate code generation, code generation, and optimization. 2) Compilers translate programs from one language to another to produce more efficient executable code. Interpreters execute source programs directly. 3) Compilers are divided into a front-end that parses input and produces an intermediate representation (IR), and a back-end that maps the IR to machine code.