What is a characteristic of an interpreted language?

A characteristic of an interpreted language is indeed that it runs easily on different kinds of machines. This is primarily because interpreted languages are generally designed to be platform-independent. The source code of an interpreted language is executed by an interpreter, which translates the code into machine instructions at runtime. This means you can run the same code on any machine that has the appropriate interpreter installed, regardless of the underlying hardware or operating system.

In contrast to compiled languages, which need to be specifically compiled for each target machine architecture, interpreted languages provide greater flexibility and portability. This property is particularly beneficial for rapid development and testing, as developers do not need to compile their code to see the results on different systems.

The other characteristics mentioned relate to compiled languages or do not apply to interpreted languages in the same way. For example, interpreted languages do not run faster than compiled languages because they execute code on-the-fly rather than beforehand. Also, while an interpreter is needed to run the program, it does not "output" an interpreter as part of the execution process; rather, it relies on the interpreter's existence to execute the code. Lastly, interpreted languages do not require conversion to machine code beforehand, which is a defining aspect of compiled languages.