Linkers and Loaders

Linkers and loaders are the critical tools that permit programs to be built from modules rather than as one big monolith. With the advent of C++, Java, and other object-oriented languages, these tools have become increasingly more complex. After a brief historical overview of the topic, this manual covers computer architecture from the point of view of linker design, the internal structure of object and executable files, the allocation of storage to the segments of linked programs, symbol hiding and resolution, address relocation, and statically and dynamically linked libraries. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
Whatever your programming language, whatever your platform, you probably tap into linker and loader functions all the time. But do you know how to use them to their greatest possible advantage? Only now, with the publication of Linkers & Loaders, is there an authoritative book devoted entirely to these deep-seated compile-time and run-time processes. The book begins with a detailed and comparative account of linking and loading that illustrates the differences among various compilers and operating systems. On top of this foundation, the author presents clear practical advice to help you create faster, cleaner code. You'll learn to avoid the pitfalls associated with Windows DLLs, take advantage of the space-saving, performance-improving techniques supported by many modern linkers, make the best use of the UNIX ELF library scheme, and much more. If you're serious about programming, you'll devour this unique guide to one of the field's least understood topics. Linkers & Loaders is also an ideal supplementary text for compiler and operating systems courses.*Includes a linker construction project written in Perl, with project files available for download. *Covers dynamic linking in Windows, UNIX, Linux, BeOS, and other operating systems. *Explains the Java linking model and how it figures in network applets and extensible Java code. *Helps you write more elegant and effective code, and build applications that compile, load, and run more efficiently.