Executable
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- Also see Binary file
Image:Binary executable file.png An executable or executable file, in computer science, is a file whose contents are meant to be interpreted as a program by a computer.
Most often, it contains the binary representation of machine instructions of a specific processor (in which case the executable may also be referred to as a binary) Whether a file is an executable is mostly a matter of convention; 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).
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[edit] Modern executables
On most modern architectures, an executable file contains much information which 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.
[edit] 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.
[edit] Formats
For a list of executable formats, see the lists at object file.
[edit] Scripts
Nowadays, the distinction between a program in source form (ultimately meant to be human-readable) and in executable form (ultimately meant to be machine-readable) is getting less distinct since the act of transforming the former into the latter (by compilation) or interpreting it may be performed implicitly.[citation needed]
Files containing interpreted language, also known as scripts, are designed to give a set of instructions to an executable.de:Ausführbare Datei es:Ejecutable fr:Fichier exécutable it:File eseguibile he:קובץ הרצה nl:Executable ja:実行ファイル pl:Plik wykonywalny pt:Executável ru:Исполняемый модуль simple:Executable sv:Exekverbar fil
