- Comparison of executable file formats
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This is a comparison of executable file formats.
Explicit processor declarations Arbitrary sections Metadata[vague] Digital signature String table Symbol table 64-bit Fat binaries Can contain icon a.out No No No No Yes[1] Yes[1] Yes No No COFF Yes by file Yes No No Yes Yes Extension No No ELF Yes by file Yes Yes Yes[2] Yes Yes[3] Yes Extension[4] Extension[5] PE Yes by file Yes Yes Yes[6] Yes Yes Yes No Yes Mach-O[7] Yes by section Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No SOM Unknown Unknown No No Unknown Yes No Unknown No Hunk Unknown Unknown Yes No No Yes No Yes No MZ No No No No No No No No No DOS COM No No No No No No No No No PEF[8] Unknown No No No Yes Yes No No No ECOFF Yes by file Yes No No Yes Yes Yes No No XCOFF Yes by file Yes No No Yes Yes[9] Yes No No NE Unknown Unknown Unknown No Unknown Unknown No No Yes LX Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown No Yes[10] No No Yes Among the above formats, the ones in most common use are PE (on Microsoft Windows), ELF (on Linux and most other versions of Unix) and Mach-O (on Mac OS X).
References
- ^ a b a.out(5) - FreeBSD Man Pages
- ^ http://freshmeat.net/projects/elfsign/
- ^ (3elf) - Elf library routines
- ^ FatELF: Universal Binaries for Linux
- ^ ElfIcon: Icons for ELF files
- ^ Windows Authenticode Portable Executable Signature Format
- ^ Mac OS X ABI Mach-O File Format Reference
- ^ http://developer.apple.com/tools/mpw-tools/commandref/dumppef.html[dead link] archive : http://web.archive.org/web/developer.apple.com/tools/mpw-tools/commandref/dumppef.html
- ^ Files Reference – XCOFF Object File Format[dead link]
- ^ Linear eXecutable Module Format
Executable and object files Formats (comparison) Related topics Application binary interface · Decompiler · Disassembler · Executable · Library (static) · Linker · Name mangling · Position-independent code · Prebinding · Relocation · Relocation tableThis article related to a type of software is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.