Application binary interface: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 02:02, 2 May 2019

Revision as of 01:17, 20 May 2019

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[[File:Linux API and Linux ABI.svg|thumb|300px|[[Linux kernel]] and [[GNU C Library]] define the [[Linux kernel interfaces#Kernel–user space API|Linux API]]. After compilation, the binaries offer an ABI; keeping this ABI stable over a long time is important for [[Independent software vendor|ISVs]].]]

In [[computer software]], an '''application binary interface''' ('''ABI''') is an [[interface (computing)|interface]] between two binary program modules; often, one of these modules is a [[Library (computing)|library]] or [[operating system]] facility, and the other is a program that is being run by a user.

An ''ABI'' defines how data structures or computational routines are accessed in [[machine code]], which is a low-level, hardware-dependent format; in contrast, an [[Application programming interface|''API'']] defines this access in [[source code]], which is a relatively high-level, hardware-independent, often [[human-readable]] format. A common aspect of an ABI is the [[calling convention]], which determines how data is provided as input to or read as output from computational routines; examples are the [[x86 calling conventions]].