Comparison of executable file formats

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Template:Short description Script error: No such module "Unsubst". This is a comparison of binary executable file formats which, once loaded by a suitable executable loader, can be directly executed by the CPU rather than being interpreted by software. In addition to the binary application code, the executables may contain headers and tables with relocation and fixup information as well as various kinds of meta data. Among those formats listed, the ones in most common use are PE (on Microsoft Windows), ELF (on Linux and most other versions of Unix), Mach-O (on macOS and iOS) and MZ (on DOS).

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Format name Operating system Filename extension Explicit processor declarations Arbitrary sections MetadataTemplate:Efn Digital signature String table Symbol table 64-bit Fat binaries Can contain icon
ELF Unix-like, OpenVMS, BeOS from R4 onwards, Haiku, SerenityOS none Yes by file Yes Yes Extension[1] Yes Yes[2] Yes Extension[3] Extension[4]
PE Windows, ReactOS, HX DOS Extender, BeOS (R3 only) .EXE Yes by file Yes Yes Yes[5] Yes Yes No Only MZ (DOS)[6] Yes
PE32+ Windows (64-bit editions only) .EXE Yes by file Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes "Compiled Hybrid Portable Executable" Yes
Mach-O[7] NeXTSTEP, macOS, iOS, watchOS, tvOS none Yes by section Some (limited to max. 256 sections) Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No
OS/360 OS/360 and successors, and VS/9, mainframe operating systems none No No No No No Yes Yes No No
GOFF IBM MVS and z/OS mainframe operating systems none No No Yes No Yes Yes Yes No No
a.out Unix-like none No No No No Yes[8] Yes[8] Extension No No
COFF Unix-like none Yes by file Yes No No Yes Yes Extension No No
ECOFF Ultrix, Tru64 UNIX, IRIX none Yes by file Yes No No Yes Yes Yes No No
XCOFF IBM AIX, BeOS, "classic" Mac OS none Yes by file Yes No No Yes Yes[9] Yes No No
SOM HP-UX, MPE/ix ? Template:Unk Template:Unk No No Template:Unk Yes No Template:Unk No
Amiga Hunk AmigaOS none No Yes Yes No No Yes No Yes No
PEF[10] "classic" Mac OS, BeOS (PPC only) none Yes by file No No No Yes Yes No No No
CMD CP/M-86, MP/M-86, Concurrent CP/M-86, Personal CP/M-86, S5-DOS, Concurrent DOS, Concurrent DOS 286, FlexOS, S5-DOS/ST, S5-DOS/MT, Concurrent DOS 386, Multiuser DOS, System Manager, REAL/32, DOS Plus .CMD No (x86 only) Yes No No Extension Extension No No No
FlexOS 186 FlexOS 186, FlexOS 286, S5-DOS/ST, S5-DOS/MT, 4680 OS, FlexOS 386, 4690 OS .186 No (186/188 and higher only) Yes No No Extension Extension No No No
FlexOS 286 FlexOS 286, S5-DOS/ST, S5-DOS/MT, 4680 OS, FlexOS 386, 4690 OS .286 No (286 and higher only) Yes No No Extension Extension No No No
CP/M-68K CP/M-68K, Concurrent DOS 68K, FlexOS 68K .68K No (68000 and higher only) Yes No No Template:Unk Template:Unk No No No
COM (CP/M) CP/M, MP/M, Concurrent CP/M, Personal CP/M .COM No (8080/Z80 only) Extension (BDOS 3 and higher only) No No No No No Extension No
COM (DOS) DOS, OS/2, Windows (except for 64-bit editions), Concurrent CP/M-86 (BDOS 3.1 only), Concurrent DOS, Concurrent DOS 286, FlexOS, Concurrent DOS 386, Multiuser DOS, System Manager, REAL/32, DOS Plus .COM No (x86 only) No Extension (Novell/Caldera VERSION etc.) No No No Extension Extension No
MZ (DOS) DOS, OS/2, Windows (except for 64-bit editions), Concurrent DOS 286, FlexOS, Concurrent DOS 386, Multiuser DOS, System Manager, REAL/32, DOS Plus .EXE No (x86 only) Yes Extension (Novell/Caldera VERSION etc.) No Extension Extension Extension No No
MZ (GEM) GEM, ViewMAX .APP/.ACC No (x86 only) Yes No No Template:Unk Template:Unk No No Template:Unk
NE MS-DOS 4.0 (multitasking), OS/2, Windows, HX DOS Extender .EXE No (x86 only) Yes Yes No No Yes No Only MZ (DOS)[11] Yes
LE, (W3, W4) OS/2 (2.0 and higher only), some DOS extenders .EXE Yes by file (286 and higher only) Yes Yes No Yes Yes No No Yes
LX OS/2 (2.0 and higher only), some 32-bit DOS extenders .EXE Yes by file Yes Yes No Yes Yes[12] No No Yes
PIM/XIP PalmDOS (MINIMAX applications only) .PIM/.XIP No (x86 only) Yes No No No No No No No
DL MS-DOS System Manager applications (HP LX series only) .EXM No (186/188 and higher only) Yes No No No No No No No
MP Phar Lap DOS extenders .EXP Template:Unk (286 and higher only) Yes No No Template:Unk Template:Unk No No No
P2 Phar Lap 16-bit DOS extenders .EXP Template:Unk (286 and higher only) Yes No No Template:Unk Template:Unk No No No
P3 Phar Lap 32-bit DOS extenders .EXP Template:Unk (386 and higher only) Yes No No Template:Unk Template:Unk No No No
GEOS PC/GEOS, Geoworks Ensemble, NewDeal Office, Breadbox Ensemble .GEO Template:Unk (x86 only) Template:Unk Template:Unk No Template:Unk Template:Unk No No Template:Unk

Notes

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References

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  1. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  2. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  3. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  4. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  5. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  6. ↑ History of Portable Executable
  7. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  8. ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  9. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  10. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  11. ↑ DOS stub of New Executable
  12. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".

Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".

Script error: No such module "Navbox".

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