GLOSSARY: Object file
An
object file is an organized collection of separate, named sequences of
machine code. Each sequence, or
object, typically contains instructions to accomplish some task.
There are many different
object file formats; originally each type of computer had its own unique format, but with the advent of
Unix and other
portable operating systems, some formats, such as
COFF and
ELF, have been defined and used on different kinds of systems.