Executable and Linkable Format
standard file format for executables, object code, shared libraries, and core dumps
In computing, the Executable and Linkable Format (ELF, formerly named Extensible Linking Format) is a common standard file format for executable files, object code, shared libraries, device drivers, and core dumps. First published in the specification for the application binary interface (ABI) of the Unix operating system version named System V Release 4 (SVR4), and later in the Tool Interface Standard, it was quickly accepted among different vendors of Unix systems. In 1999, it was chosen as the standard binary file format for Unix and Unix-like systems on x86 processors by the 86open project.
By design, the ELF format is flexible, extensible, and cross-platform. For instance, it supports different endiannesses and address sizes so it does not exclude any particular CPU or instruction set architecture. This has allowed it to be adopted by many different operating systems on many different hardware platforms.
File layout
Each ELF file is made up of one ELF header, followed by file data. The data can include:
Program header table, describing zero or more memory segments
Section header table, describing zero or more sections
Data referred to by entries in the program header table or section header table
The segments contain information that is needed for run time execution of the file, while sections contain important data for linking and relocation. Any byte in the entire file can be owned by one section at most, and orphan bytes can occur which are unowned by any section.
ELF header
The ELF header defines whether to use 32-bit or 64-bit addresses.
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This entry incorporates text from “Executable and Linkable Format” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.