OCR GCSE Computer Science Complete Practice Exam 2025

The correct choice for the tool that combines code from different files is a linker. A linker is a crucial part of the software development process, specifically in languages that require separate compilation of source code files. When individual code files are compiled, they are transformed into object files, which contain machine code but are not an executable program on their own. The linker takes these object files and combines them into a single executable program, resolving references between them in the process. This enables the final executable to call functions and access variables defined in different files, thus allowing for modular programming.

In contrast, the other options serve distinct functions in the compilation and execution process. A compiler translates high-level programming code into machine code, but it does not combine separate files; instead, it processes each file independently to produce object code. A debugger is a tool used for testing and debugging programs, allowing developers to track down and fix errors in their code, rather than combining files. An interpreter executes code line-by-line and does not involve any compiling or combining of code from multiple files. This highlights how the linker specifically plays a unique role in bringing together various code components into a complete application.