Executable file formats

filename extension

file format

standard file format for executables, object code, shared libraries, and core dumps

file format

handle in a user interface that allows the user to find a file or resource

'''''' is a file format used in older versions of Unix-like computer operating systems for executables, object code, and, in later systems, shared libraries. This is an abbreviated form of "assembler output", the filename of the output of Ken Thompson's PDP-7 assembler. The term was subsequently applied to the format of the resulting file to contrast with other formats for object code.

The Common Object File Format (COFF) is a format for executable, object code, and shared library computer files used on Unix systems. It was introduced in Unix System V, replaced the previously used a.out format, and formed the basis for extended specifications such as XCOFF and ECOFF, before being largely replaced by ELF, introduced with SVR4. COFF and its variants continue to be used on some Unix-like systems, on Microsoft Windows (Portable Executable), in UEFI environments and in some embedded development systems.

file containing relocatable format machine code

Macintosh fat binary

filename extension

file format for applications built upon the Universal Windows Platform and used across compatible Microsoft Windows systems

In Linux, the file is a symbol table used by the kernel.

In computer programming, the block starting symbol (abbreviated to .bss or bss) is the portion of an object file, executable, or assembly language code that contains statically allocated variables that are declared but have not been assigned a value yet. It is often referred to as the "bss section" or "bss segment".

combined executable file for multiple processor types or operating systems

Mach-O (Mach object) is a file format for executables, object code, shared libraries, dynamically loaded code, and core dumps. It was developed to replace the a.out format.

portion of an object file containing executable instructions

executable file format used for .EXE files in MS-DOS

storage segment

Settings for running DOS applications

an object file library used by the GNU debugger, assembler, linker, and the binary utilities

file format