Object and executable code

 

Once you have written the program you need to type it and instruct the machine to execute it. To type your C program you need another program called editor. Once the program has been typed it needs to be converted to the machine language i.e language of 0's and 1's before the machine can execute it. To carry out this conversion we need another program called a compiler.

There are several levels like type, convert, execute code in C. These levels are defined below:

1. Source code is the C program that you write in the editor or IDE that is uncompiled.

2. Preprocessor is not the part of the C compiler. But it is a separate process in the compilation. It is just a text substitution tool and it instructs the compiler to do required preprocessing.

3. Compiler  is the special program that process the statements written in any programming language.

4. Assembler is a program that converts the computer code in to the machine language.

5. Linker is a program which helps in link object modules of program in to single object file.

6. Executable file is the output of the of a linker after it process the object code.