Comparison of executable file formats: Difference between revisions

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{{Short description|none}} <!-- This short description is INTENTIONALLY "none" - please see WP:SDNONE before you consider changing it! -->

{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2014}}

This is a comparison of binary [[executable]] [[file format]]s which, once loaded by a suitable executable [[Loader (computing)|loader]], can be directly executed by the CPU rather than being interpreted by software. In addition to the binary application code, the executables may contain headers and tables with relocation and fixup information as well as various kinds of meta data. Among those formats listed, the ones in most common use are [[Portable Executable|PE]] (on [[Microsoft Windows]]), [[Executable and Linkable Format|ELF]] (on [[Linux]] and most other versions of [[Unix]]), [[Mach-O]] (on [[macOS]] and [[iOS]]) and [[DOS MZ executable|MZ]] (on [[DOS]]).

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{| class="wikitable sortable"

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{| class="wikitable sortable sort-under sticky-header"

|-

! scope="col" | Format name

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! scope="col" | [[Metadata]]{{efn|name=metadata}}

! scope="col" | [[Code signing|Digital signature]]

! scope="col" | [[String (computer science)|String table]] table

! scope="col" | [[Symbol table]]

! scope="col" | [[64-bit]]

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! scope="row" | [[Executable and Linkable Format|ELF]]

| [[Unix-like]], [[OpenVMS]], [[BeOS]] <small>from R4 onwards</small>, [[Haiku_(operating_system)|Haiku]], [[SerenityOS]]

| style="text-align: center;" | none (though {{code|.elf}} is sometimes used unofficially{{cn|date=October 2021}})

| {{Yes}} by file

| {{Yes}}

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| {{Yes}}

|-

! scope="row" | [[Mach-O]]<ref name=macosx>{{cite web|url=https://developer.apple.com/library/mac/documentation/DeveloperToolsdevelopertools/Conceptualconceptual/MachORuntime/Reference/reference.html#//apple_ref/doc/uid/20001298-BAJIHABI |title=Mac OS X ABI Mach-O File Format Reference |publisher=Apple Inc. |date=42009-02-04 February|url-status=dead 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140904004108/https://developer.apple.com/library/mac/documentation/developertools/conceptual/MachORuntime/Reference/reference.html |accessarchive-date=9September July4, 20122014}}</ref>

| [[NeXTSTEP]], [[macOS]], [[iOS]], [[iPadOS]], [[watchOS]], [[tvOS]], [[visionOS]]

| style="text-align: center;" | none

| {{Yes}} by file or subfile of a [[Fat binary#NeXT's/Apple's multi-architecture binaries|multi-architecture binary]]

| {{Yes}} by section

| {{Some}} <small>(limited to max. 256 sections)</small>

| {{Yes}}

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| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}} ([[Fat binary#NeXT's/Apple's multi-architecture binaries|multi-architecture binary]])

| {{Yes}}

| {{No}}

|-

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| [[MS-DOS 4.0 (multitasking)]], [[OS/2]], [[Windows]], [[HX&nbsp;DOS&nbsp;Extender]]

| style="text-align: center;" | <code>[[.EXE]]</code>

| {{No}} <small>([[Intel x86|x86]] only)</small>

| {{unk}}

| {{unkYes}}

| {{unkYes}}

| {{No}}

| {{unkNo}}

| {{unkYes}}

| {{No}}

| {{some|Only [[DOS MZ executable|MZ (DOS)]]<ref>[[New_Executable#DOS_stub|DOS stub of New Executable]]</ref>}}

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{{notelist|refs=

<ref name=metadata>

:Metadata is casually used to describe the controlling data used in software architectures that are more abstract or configurable. Most executable file formats include what may be termed "metadata" that specifies certain, usually configurable, behavioral [[run timeruntime (program lifecycle phase)|runtime]] characteristics. However, it is difficult if not impossible to precisely distinguish program "metadata" from general aspects of [[Von Neumann architecture|stored-program computing architecture]]; if the machine reads it and acts uponon it, it is a computational [[Instruction (computer science)|instruction]], and the prefix "meta" has little significance.

:In [[Java (programming language)|Java]], the [[ClassJava (file format)|class file]] format]] contains metadata used by the [[Java compiler]] and the [[Java virtual machine]] to [[dynamicDynamic linkinglinker|dynamically link]] [[classClass (computer scienceprogramming)|classes]] and to support [[reflectionreflective programming]] (computer sciencereflection)|reflection]]. The [[Java Platform, Standard Edition]] since J2SE 5.0 has included a [[metadata facility for Java|metadata facility]] to allow additional annotations that are used by [[development tool]]s.

:In [[MS-DOS]], the [[COM file]] format does ''not'' normally include metadata, while the [[EXE]] file and Windows [[Portable Executable|PE]] (PE) formats do. These metadata can include the company that published the program, the date the program was created, the version number, and more.

:In the [[.NET Framework]] framework executable format, extra metadata is included to allow [[Reflection (computerReflective science)programming|reflection]] at runtime.</ref>

}}