<html lang="en"> <head> <title>Overview - Untitled</title> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html"> <meta name="description" content="Untitled"> <meta name="generator" content="makeinfo 4.13"> <link title="Top" rel="start" href="index.html#Top"> <link rel="prev" href="index.html#Top" title="Top"> <link rel="next" href="Invocation.html#Invocation" title="Invocation"> <link href="http://www.gnu.org/software/texinfo/" rel="generator-home" title="Texinfo Homepage"> <!-- This file documents the GNU linker LD (GNU Binutils) version 2.26. Copyright (C) 1991-2015 Free Software Foundation, Inc. Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.3 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no Invariant Sections, with no Front-Cover Texts, and with no Back-Cover Texts. A copy of the license is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation License''.--> <meta http-equiv="Content-Style-Type" content="text/css"> <style type="text/css"><!-- pre.display { font-family:inherit } pre.format { font-family:inherit } pre.smalldisplay { font-family:inherit; font-size:smaller } pre.smallformat { font-family:inherit; font-size:smaller } pre.smallexample { font-size:smaller } pre.smalllisp { font-size:smaller } span.sc { font-variant:small-caps } span.roman { font-family:serif; font-weight:normal; } span.sansserif { font-family:sans-serif; font-weight:normal; } --></style> </head> <body> <div class="node"> <a name="Overview"></a> <p> Next: <a rel="next" accesskey="n" href="Invocation.html#Invocation">Invocation</a>, Previous: <a rel="previous" accesskey="p" href="index.html#Top">Top</a>, Up: <a rel="up" accesskey="u" href="index.html#Top">Top</a> <hr> </div> <h2 class="chapter">1 Overview</h2> <p><a name="index-g_t_0040sc_007bgnu_007d-linker-1"></a><a name="index-what-is-this_003f-2"></a> <!-- man begin DESCRIPTION --> <p><samp><span class="command">ld</span></samp> combines a number of object and archive files, relocates their data and ties up symbol references. Usually the last step in compiling a program is to run <samp><span class="command">ld</span></samp>. <p><samp><span class="command">ld</span></samp> accepts Linker Command Language files written in a superset of AT&T's Link Editor Command Language syntax, to provide explicit and total control over the linking process. <p>This version of <samp><span class="command">ld</span></samp> uses the general purpose BFD libraries to operate on object files. This allows <samp><span class="command">ld</span></samp> to read, combine, and write object files in many different formats—for example, COFF or <code>a.out</code>. Different formats may be linked together to produce any available kind of object file. See <a href="BFD.html#BFD">BFD</a>, for more information. <p>Aside from its flexibility, the <span class="sc">gnu</span> linker is more helpful than other linkers in providing diagnostic information. Many linkers abandon execution immediately upon encountering an error; whenever possible, <samp><span class="command">ld</span></samp> continues executing, allowing you to identify other errors (or, in some cases, to get an output file in spite of the error). <!-- man end --> </body></html>