Abstract: A resource assignment apparatus for use with a software compiler or translator for compiling or translating a high-level source program into a machine language program, wherein the resource assignment apparatus assigns the variables in the high-level source program to system resources consisting of registers, memory, and the like. The resource assignment apparatus generates assignments consisting of the variables and their live ranges and finds the interference cost incurred when assigning these various assignments to each of the various resources, consisting of data registers, address registers, memory, and the like. The apparatus sorts the assignments into groups whereby these interference costs will be the lowest. The resource element minority assignment unit then carries out the assigning of each of these groups of sorted assignment. The various assignments with live ranges which interfere are assigned to different resource elements.