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A linker or link editor is a computer program that combines intermediate software build files such as object and library files into a single executable file such a program or library. A linker is often part of a toolchain that includes a compiler and/or assembler that generates intermediate files that the linker processes.
The design and/or choice of an object file format is a key part of overall system design. It affects the performance of the linker and thus programmer turnaround while a program is being developed. If the format is used for executables, the design also affects the time programs take to begin running, and thus the responsiveness for users.
Any object code produced by compilers is usually linked with other pieces of object code (produced by the same or another compiler) by a type of program called a linker. The linker needs a great deal of information on each program entity. For example, to correctly link a function it needs its name, the number of arguments and their types, and ...
The compiler may start the compiled code at an arbitrary location, often location 1 as shown. Location 13 contains the machine code for the jump instruction to statement ST in location 5. (C) If SUBR is later linked with other code it may be stored at a location other than 1. In this example the linker places it at location 120.
A relatively common and simple toolchain consists of the tools to build for a particular operating system (OS) and CPU architecture; consisting of a compiler, a linker, and a debugger. With a cross-compiler, a toolchain can support cross-platform development. For building more complex software systems, many other tools may be in the toolchain.
When code generation occurs at runtime, as in just-in-time compilation (JIT), it is important that the entire process be efficient with respect to space and time. For example, when regular expressions are interpreted and used to generate code at runtime, a non-deterministic finite-state machine is often generated instead of a deterministic one, because usually the former can be created more ...
Constant folding is the process of recognizing and evaluating constant expressions at compile time rather than computing them at runtime. Terms in constant expressions are typically simple literals, such as the integer literal 2, but they may also be variables whose values are known at compile time.
In computing, a dynamic linker is the part of an operating system that loads and links the shared libraries needed by an executable when it is executed (at "run time"), by copying the content of libraries from persistent storage to RAM, filling jump tables and relocating pointers. The specific operating system and executable format determine ...