Linker
lastmod 2022-03-14created 2020-12-093 edits
In computer science, a linker or link editor is a program that takes one or more object files produced by a compiler and merges them into a single executable program.
In IBM mainframe environments such as OS/360, this program is known as a linkage editor.
On Unix-like operating systems, loader is sometimes used as a synonym for linker. Other terms have also been used. For example, SINTRAN III called the process performed by the linker loading (loading → loading executable code into a file). Because this usage blurs the distinction between the compile-time process and the run-time process, this page will refer to the former as linking and the latter as loading. However, on some operating systems the same program performs both linking and loading of a program. See dynamic linking.