Executables
From Just Solve the File Format Problem
Container formats for machine executable code. These often define different sections to be loaded into memory. Some formats may be compatible with different CPU architectures.
Directly executable
- a.out
- Amiga Hunk
- Atari ST executable (.prg)
- COFF — The Common Object File Format, an executable format originally designed for use in UNIX System V
- Commodore 64 binary executable (.prg)
- DOS executable (.com) — 16 bit DOS executable
- EPOC/Symbian executable
- EXE — MS-DOS, MS Windows, and others
- MS-DOS EXE
- New Executable (NE)
- Linear Executable
- Portable Executable (PE, actually a COFF variant)
- Executable and Linkable Format (ELF)
- GOFF
- Intel HEX
- iOS app (.app) (see also IPA for archived version, and Mobile Provision file for provision file accompanying apps)
- Mach-O
- Multiboot
- OS/360 Object File Format
- PRC (Palm OS)
- Psion IMG/APP
- Psion OPO/OPA
- Towns OS EXP
(can't be run by themselves, but are used at runtime by other executables)
- Borland Graphics Interface (.bgi)
- DOS device driver (.sys)
- Dynamic library (OS X or iOS) (.dylib)
- Dynamic-link library (Windows) (.dll)
- Turbo Pascal chain file (.chn)
Interpreted program files
Resource data used by executables and sometimes embedded in them
See Resources.
Meta-info files used in execution of programs/packages
- Assembly manifest (Windows) (.manifest)
- Java Network Launching Protocol
- Mobile Provision file
- Program information file (PIF)
Virtual machine code
(see Wikipedia:UVC-based preservation for use of virtual machines in archival preservation)
- ART (Android Runtime)
- BEAM (Erlang)
- Bytecode (or p-code) — programs "compiled" into machine-independent code that loads or runs more quickly than raw interpreted source code; runs in an interpreter
- Dalvik Executable (DEX; virtual machine used in Android)
- Java bytecode (aka 'class file')
- Lingo bytecode
- Olive (executable archive embedding a virtual machine emulating original environment)
- PYC (Python bytecode)
- UCSD p-system p-code
- Universal Machine (ICFP programming contest 2006)
- WebAssembly
- Z-code
Macros or automated scripting
- 4DOS compressed batch file
- ActiveMime
- Batch file
- Bourne shell script
- C shell script
- DoItAgain
- Photoshop Action File (.atn)
- Sikuli
- Windows Script File
- WordPerfect macro (.wpm, .wcm)
For additional formats, see Programming Languages.
Executable compression
Refer to Executable compression.
Executable envelopes
(Generated executables: self-extracting archives and installers, executable documents, etc.)
Refer to Executable envelopes.
See also
- Source code, for code in a higher-level programming language that needs to be compiled, assembled, or interpreted
- Programming Languages
- Development, for other files used in the development process, including object and library files that get linked into a finished executable
