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Information about Executable File

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A Hexdump of a binary executable file
An executable or executable file, in computer science, is a file whose contents are meant to be interpreted as a program by a computer.

While a file in source form may be executable, such a file is usually referred to as a "script." Most executable files contain the binary representation of machine instructions of a specific processor (in which case the executable may also be referred to as a binary), or they may be binary pseudocode for a virtual machine. A non-source executable file is also called an object program. Some operating systems designate executable files by specific naming convention (such as the name ending in a filename extension ".bin" or ".exe") or noted alongside the file in its metadata (such as the "execute" permission bits under Unix-like operating systems). However, unless a file contains properly-formatted computer instructions, it will not actually execute properly even if it is so marked.

An executable file can contain much information that is not part of the program itself, such as information on the environment required to run the program, debugging and symbolic information, or other housekeeping information used by the operating system to prepare the program to be run. Such information is frequently not part of executables for embedded systems or systems where storage is small. Debugging information is not generally provided with executables for commercial software packages.

System calls

Executables contain calls to operating system services in addition to regular machine instructions. This means that executables are usually operating system-specific in addition to being processor-specific.

Formats

COM (.com) (DOS)
PE (.exe, .dll, .ocx, .sys, .scr) (Windows)
ELF (Unix and Unix-like)
Mach-O (Mac)
For a list of more executable formats, see the lists at object file.

Scripts

Main article: Scripting languages
Not all applications exist in a form readable only by machines. Related, but generally mutually incompatible, are Scripting languages. Unlike binaries, these applications do not go through a compilation step before being delivered to an end user. They are generally human-readable. In a sense, a script exists as both the source code and the "binary" at the same time.
binary file is a computer file which may contain any type of data, encoded in binary form for computer storage and processing purposes; for example, computer document files containing formatted text.
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Computer science, or computing science, is the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation and their implementation and application in computer systems.
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computer file is a block of arbitrary information, or resource for storing information, which is available to a computer program and is usually based on some kind of durable storage.
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A computer program is one or more instructions that are intended for execution by a computer. Specifically, it is a symbol or combination of symbols forming an algorithm that may or may not terminate, and that algorithm is written in a programming language.
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computer is a machine which manipulates data according to a list of instructions.

Computers take numerous physical forms. The first devices that resemble modern computers date to the mid-20th century (around 1940 - 1941), although the computer concept and various machines
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binary numeral system, or base-2 number system, is a numeral system that represents numeric values using two symbols, usually 0 and 1. More specifically, the usual base-2 system is a positional notation with a radix of 2.
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Machine code or machine language is a system of instructions and data directly executed by a computer's central processing unit. Machine code is the lowest-level of abstraction for representing a computer program.
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central processing unit (CPU), or sometimes simply processor, is the component in a digital computer capable of executing a program.(Knott 1974) It interprets computer program instructions and processes data.
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binary file is a computer file which may contain any type of data, encoded in binary form for computer storage and processing purposes; for example, computer document files containing formatted text.
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An operating system (OS) is the software that manages the sharing of the resources of a computer. An operating system processes system data and user input, and responds by allocating and managing tasks and internal system resources as a service to users and programs of the
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A filename extension is a suffix to the name of a computer file applied to indicate its type. It is commonly used to infer information about what sort of data might be stored in the file.
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Metadata is data about data. An item of metadata may describe an individual datum, or content item, or a collection of data including multiple content items.

Metadata (sometimes written 'meta data') is used to facilitate the understanding, use and management of data.
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Most modern file systems have methods of administering permissions or access rights to specific users and groups of users. These systems control the ability of the users affected to view or make changes to the contents of the file system.
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BIT is an acronym for:
  • Bannari amman Institute of Technology
  • Bangalore Institute of Technology
  • Beijing Institute of Technology
  • Benzisothiazolinone
  • Bilateral Investment Treaty
  • Bhilai Institute of Technology - Durg

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Unix-like operating system is one that behaves in a manner similar to a Unix system, while not necessarily conforming to or being certified to any version of the Single UNIX Specification.
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An operating system (OS) is the software that manages the sharing of the resources of a computer. An operating system processes system data and user input, and responds by allocating and managing tasks and internal system resources as a service to users and programs of the
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Debugging is a methodical process of finding and reducing the number of bugs, or defects, in a computer program or a piece of electronic hardware thus making it behave as expected.
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Housekeeping may refer to:
  • Household management, the cleaning and maintenance of a household or a building
  • House work, chores related to household management
  • Janitorial work
  • Repair and maintenance, an expense item for the purposes of accounting and taxation

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In computing, a system call is the mechanism used by an application program to request service from the operating system.

Background

In addition to processing data in its own memory space, an application program might want to use data and services provided by the system.
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.COM redirects here. For the top level internet domain, see .com.


COM

File extension: .com
Type of format: Executable The file name extension .
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Portable Executable

File extension: .exe, .dll, .ocx, .sys, .scr
Developed by: Microsoft
Type of format: Binary, executable, object, shared libraries The Portable Executable
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ELF

File extension: none, .o, .so
Developed by: Unix System Laboratories
Type of format: Binary, executable, object, shared libraries, core dump In computing, the Executable and Linking Format (ELF, formerly called
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Mach-O

File extension: none, .o, .dylib
Uniform Type Identifier: com.apple.mach-o-binary
Developed by: Carnegie Mellon University/Apple Inc.
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A file format is a particular way to encode information for storage in a computer file.

Since a disk drive, or indeed any computer storage, can store only bits, the computer must have some way of converting information to 0s and 1s and vice-versa.
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In computer science, object code, or an object file, is the representation of code that a compiler or assembler generates by processing a source code file. Object files contain compact code, often called "binaries".
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Scripting redirects here. For other uses, see script.


Scripting languages (commonly called script languages) are computer programming languages that are typically interpreted and can be typed directly from a keyboard.
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Scripting redirects here. For other uses, see script.


Scripting languages (commonly called script languages) are computer programming languages that are typically interpreted and can be typed directly from a keyboard.
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