We basically have two phases of compilers, namely the Analysis phase and Synthesis phase. The analysis phase creates an intermediate representation from the given source code. The synthesis phase creates an equivalent target program from the intermediate representation. 

A compiler is a software program that converts the high-level source code written in a programming language into low-level machine code that can be executed by the computer hardware. The process of converting the source code into machine code involves several phases or stages, which are collectively known as the phases of a compiler. The typical phases of a compiler are:

1. Lexical Analysis: The first phase of a compiler is lexical analysis, also known as scanning. This phase reads the source code and breaks it into a stream of tokens, which are the basic units of the programming language. The tokens are then passed on to the next phase for further processing.
2. Syntax Analysis: The second phase of a compiler is syntax analysis, also known as parsing. This phase takes the stream of tokens generated by the lexical analysis phase and checks whether they conform to the grammar of the programming language. The output of this phase is usually an Abstract Syntax Tree (AST).
3. Semantic Analysis: The third phase of a compiler is semantic analysis. This phase checks whether the code is semantically correct, i.e., whether it conforms to the language’s type system and other semantic rules. In this stage, the compiler checks the meaning of the source code to ensure that it makes sense. The compiler performs type checking, which ensures that variables are used correctly and that operations are performed on compatible data types. The compiler also checks for other semantic errors, such as undeclared variables and incorrect function calls.
4. Intermediate Code Generation: The fourth phase of a compiler is intermediate code generation. This phase generates an intermediate representation of the source code that can be easily translated into machine code.
5. Optimization: The fifth phase of a compiler is optimization. This phase applies various optimization techniques to the intermediate code to improve the performance of the generated machine code.
6. Code Generation: The final phase of a compiler is code generation. This phase takes the optimized intermediate code and generates the actual machine code that can be executed by the target hardware.