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Why do programs always compile to a.out? why not p.out or c.out or g.prog?
2019 Community Moderator ElectionWhy does FreeBSD use the GPL-licensed GCC?Is there any pattern to specify target triples in GCC?Compilation of gtkdialog with gcc fails on Solaris (cc1: error: invalid option `t')Why did “argument can be squished against option” prevail over “argument is always separate”?Compile mex files for spm12 in Matlab r2012a student versionDoes make sense using exotic bootstrap in GCC?Find out glibc compilation optionsHow to handle error compiling GCC 4.7.0 using GCC 6.2.1How to change the link of CC in CentosWhen (and from which places) does the `-h` (help) command-line option come from?
Historically speaking I know when I run the cc command or gcc my output generally always compiles to a.out unless I have a make file or use a particular flag on the compiler. But why a.out? Why not c.out or c.run or any myriad of a million possibilities?
compiling history
asked Oct 14 '16 at 14:33
Mark DMark D
6102823
add a comment |
Historically speaking I know when I run the cc command or gcc my output generally always compiles to a.out unless I have a make file or use a particular flag on the compiler. But why a.out? Why not c.out or c.run or any myriad of a million possibilities?
compiling history
asked Oct 14 '16 at 14:33
Mark DMark D
6102823
Possible duplicate of stackoverflow.com/questions/1218262/…
– John
Oct 14 '16 at 14:36
@John Yeah ithat definitely helps explain whya.outbut even when we were compiling in assembler, I'm not sure that a.out made sense.a.runsure ora.exe(I know a windows/dos reference) because that seems to make more sense thana.out, it's not really output it's an executable application.
– Mark D
Oct 14 '16 at 14:41
add a comment |
Historically speaking I know when I run the cc command or gcc my output generally always compiles to a.out unless I have a make file or use a particular flag on the compiler. But why a.out? Why not c.out or c.run or any myriad of a million possibilities?
compiling history
asked Oct 14 '16 at 14:33
Mark DMark D
6102823
Historically speaking I know when I run the cc command or gcc my output generally always compiles to a.out unless I have a make file or use a particular flag on the compiler. But why a.out? Why not c.out or c.run or any myriad of a million possibilities?
compiling history
compiling history
asked Oct 14 '16 at 14:33
Mark DMark D
6102823
asked Oct 14 '16 at 14:33
Mark DMark D
6102823
asked Oct 14 '16 at 14:33
Mark DMark D
6102823
asked Oct 14 '16 at 14:33
Mark DMark D
6102823
asked Oct 14 '16 at 14:33
Mark DMark D
6102823
6102823
Possible duplicate of stackoverflow.com/questions/1218262/…
– John
Oct 14 '16 at 14:36
@John Yeah ithat definitely helps explain whya.outbut even when we were compiling in assembler, I'm not sure that a.out made sense.a.runsure ora.exe(I know a windows/dos reference) because that seems to make more sense thana.out, it's not really output it's an executable application.
– Mark D
Oct 14 '16 at 14:41
add a comment |
Possible duplicate of stackoverflow.com/questions/1218262/…
– John
Oct 14 '16 at 14:36
@John Yeah ithat definitely helps explain whya.outbut even when we were compiling in assembler, I'm not sure that a.out made sense.a.runsure ora.exe(I know a windows/dos reference) because that seems to make more sense thana.out, it's not really output it's an executable application.
– Mark D
Oct 14 '16 at 14:41
Possible duplicate of stackoverflow.com/questions/1218262/…
– John
Oct 14 '16 at 14:36
Possible duplicate of stackoverflow.com/questions/1218262/…
– John
Oct 14 '16 at 14:36
@John Yeah ithat definitely helps explain why
a.out but even when we were compiling in assembler, I'm not sure that a.out made sense. a.run sure or a.exe (I know a windows/dos reference) because that seems to make more sense than a.out, it's not really output it's an executable application.– Mark D
Oct 14 '16 at 14:41
@John Yeah ithat definitely helps explain why
a.out but even when we were compiling in assembler, I'm not sure that a.out made sense. a.run sure or a.exe (I know a windows/dos reference) because that seems to make more sense than a.out, it's not really output it's an executable application.– Mark D
Oct 14 '16 at 14:41
add a comment |
1 Answer
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It is a historical artefact, so in other words a legacy throwback. Historically a.out stands for "assembler output".
a.out is now only the name of the file but before it was also the file format of the executable.
The a.out executable format is nowadays uncommonly supported. The ELF format has wider use, but we still keep the old name for the default output of the C compiler.
edited 13 hours ago
Kusalananda
136k17257425
answered Oct 14 '16 at 14:45
A.MeauA.Meau
1564
add a comment |
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1 Answer
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1 Answer
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active
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It is a historical artefact, so in other words a legacy throwback. Historically a.out stands for "assembler output".
a.out is now only the name of the file but before it was also the file format of the executable.
The a.out executable format is nowadays uncommonly supported. The ELF format has wider use, but we still keep the old name for the default output of the C compiler.
edited 13 hours ago
Kusalananda
136k17257425
answered Oct 14 '16 at 14:45
A.MeauA.Meau
1564
add a comment |
It is a historical artefact, so in other words a legacy throwback. Historically a.out stands for "assembler output".
a.out is now only the name of the file but before it was also the file format of the executable.
The a.out executable format is nowadays uncommonly supported. The ELF format has wider use, but we still keep the old name for the default output of the C compiler.
edited 13 hours ago
Kusalananda
136k17257425
answered Oct 14 '16 at 14:45
A.MeauA.Meau
1564
add a comment |
It is a historical artefact, so in other words a legacy throwback. Historically a.out stands for "assembler output".
a.out is now only the name of the file but before it was also the file format of the executable.
The a.out executable format is nowadays uncommonly supported. The ELF format has wider use, but we still keep the old name for the default output of the C compiler.
edited 13 hours ago
Kusalananda
136k17257425
answered Oct 14 '16 at 14:45
A.MeauA.Meau
1564
It is a historical artefact, so in other words a legacy throwback. Historically a.out stands for "assembler output".
a.out is now only the name of the file but before it was also the file format of the executable.
The a.out executable format is nowadays uncommonly supported. The ELF format has wider use, but we still keep the old name for the default output of the C compiler.
edited 13 hours ago
Kusalananda
136k17257425
answered Oct 14 '16 at 14:45
A.MeauA.Meau
1564
edited 13 hours ago
Kusalananda
136k17257425
edited 13 hours ago
Kusalananda
136k17257425
edited 13 hours ago
Kusalananda
136k17257425
136k17257425
answered Oct 14 '16 at 14:45
A.MeauA.Meau
1564
answered Oct 14 '16 at 14:45
A.MeauA.Meau
1564
answered Oct 14 '16 at 14:45
A.MeauA.Meau
1564
1564
add a comment |
add a comment |
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Possible duplicate of stackoverflow.com/questions/1218262/…
– John
Oct 14 '16 at 14:36
@John Yeah ithat definitely helps explain why
a.outbut even when we were compiling in assembler, I'm not sure that a.out made sense.a.runsure ora.exe(I know a windows/dos reference) because that seems to make more sense thana.out, it's not really output it's an executable application.– Mark D
Oct 14 '16 at 14:41