Object code: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 23:33, 15 August 2016

Revision as of 23:34, 15 August 2016

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{{Program execution}}

'''Object code''', or sometimes an '''object module''', is what a computer [[compiler]] produces.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/0,,sid9_gci211824,00.html|title=Compiler|publisher=TechTarget|quote=Traditionally, the output of the compilation has been called object code or sometimes an object module.|accessdate=1 September 2011}}</ref> In a general sincesense object code is a sequence of [[Statement (computer science)|statements]] or instructions in a computer language,<ref>{{cite book|last1=Aho|first1=Alfred V.|authorlink1=Alfred Aho|last2=Sethi|first2=Ravi|authorlink2=Ravi Sethi|last3=Ullman|first3=Jeffrey D.|authorlink3=Jeffrey Ullman|title=Compilers: principles, techniques, and tools|series=Computer Science|year=1986|publisher=Mark S. Dalton|isbn=0-201-10194-7|page=704|chapter=10 Code Optimization}}</ref> usually a [[machine code]] language (i.e., [[Binary_file|binary]]) or an intermediate language such as [[Register transfer language]].

Object files can in turn be [[Linker (computing)|linked]] to form an executable file or library file. In order to be used, object code must either be placed in an executable file, a library file, or an [[object file]].