a.out
Sign in to saveAlso known as A.out (file format)
'''''' 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.
Key facts
- File format.extension
- none, , ,
- File format.magic
- , , (in octal); , , (in hexadecimal)
- File format.owner
- AT&T
- File format.genre
- Binary, executable, object, shared libraries
via Wikipedia infobox
~3 min read
Encyclopedic overview
6 sectionsContents
- History
- Debugging
- See also
- References
- Further reading
- External links
'''''' 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.
"" remains the default output file name for executables created by certain compilers and linkers when no output name is specified, even though the created files actually are not in the a.out format, but often in ELF.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “a.out” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.