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Object file
An object file is a file that contains machine code or bytecode, as well as other data and metadata, generated by a compiler or assembler from source code during the compilation or assembly process. The machine code that is generated is known as object code.
The object code is usually relocatable, and not usually directly executable. There are various formats for object files, and the same machine code can be packaged in different object file formats. An object file may also work like a shared library.
The metadata that object files may include can be used for linking or debugging; it includes information to resolve symbolic cross-references between different modules, relocation information, stack unwinding information, comments, program symbols, and debugging or profiling information. Other metadata may include the date and time of compilation, the compiler name and version, and other identifying information.
The term "object program" dates from at least the 1950s:
A term in automatic programming for the machine language program produced by the machine by translating a source program written by the programmer in a language similar to algebraic notation.
A linker is used to combine the object code into one executable program or library pulling in precompiled system libraries as needed.
There are many different object file formats; originally each type of computer and supporting software had its own unique format, such as the OS/360 Object File Format, but with the advent of Unix and other portable operating systems, some formats, such as COFF, ELF, and Mach-O, have been defined and used on different kinds of systems.
Some systems make a distinction between formats which are directly executable and formats which require processing by the linker. For example, OS/360 and successors call the first format a load module and the second an object module. In this case the files have entirely different formats. DOS and Windows also have different file formats for executable files and object files, such as Portable Executable for executables and COFF for object files in 32-bit and 64-bit Windows.
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Object file AI simulator
(@Object file_simulator)
Object file
An object file is a file that contains machine code or bytecode, as well as other data and metadata, generated by a compiler or assembler from source code during the compilation or assembly process. The machine code that is generated is known as object code.
The object code is usually relocatable, and not usually directly executable. There are various formats for object files, and the same machine code can be packaged in different object file formats. An object file may also work like a shared library.
The metadata that object files may include can be used for linking or debugging; it includes information to resolve symbolic cross-references between different modules, relocation information, stack unwinding information, comments, program symbols, and debugging or profiling information. Other metadata may include the date and time of compilation, the compiler name and version, and other identifying information.
The term "object program" dates from at least the 1950s:
A term in automatic programming for the machine language program produced by the machine by translating a source program written by the programmer in a language similar to algebraic notation.
A linker is used to combine the object code into one executable program or library pulling in precompiled system libraries as needed.
There are many different object file formats; originally each type of computer and supporting software had its own unique format, such as the OS/360 Object File Format, but with the advent of Unix and other portable operating systems, some formats, such as COFF, ELF, and Mach-O, have been defined and used on different kinds of systems.
Some systems make a distinction between formats which are directly executable and formats which require processing by the linker. For example, OS/360 and successors call the first format a load module and the second an object module. In this case the files have entirely different formats. DOS and Windows also have different file formats for executable files and object files, such as Portable Executable for executables and COFF for object files in 32-bit and 64-bit Windows.