Compilation takes the code you have written and turns it into code that the computer can run.
Execution is the computer actually running the complied code.
This is the same for any computer language. While some more modern languages (like many web languages) don't require you to compile first, the computer still takes the human readable code and turns it into computer readable code (zeros and ones) before running it. The only difference is who initiates the compilation - manually by you or automatically by the computer.
