A compiler 58, which is a compiler that realizes program development in a fewer man hours, translates a source program 72 written in a high-level language into a machine language program. This compiler 58 is comprised of: a directive obtainment unit that obtains a directive that a machine language program to be generated should be optimized; a parser unit 76 that parses the source program 72; an intermediate code conversion unit 78 that converts the source program 72 into intermediate codes based on a result of the parsing performed by the parser unit 76; an optimization unit 68 that optimizes the intermediate codes according to the directive; and a code generation unit 90 that converts the intermediate codes into the machine language program. The above directive is a directive to optimize the machine language program targeted at a processor that uses a cache memory.