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Glam Fame Journal

What does objdump output?

Author

Isabella Floyd

Updated on March 13, 2026

What does objdump output?

objdump displays information about one or more object files. The options control what particular information to display. This information is mostly useful to programmers who are working on the compilation tools, as opposed to programmers who just want their program to compile and work.

What does objdump display?

objdump is a command-line program for displaying various information about object files on Unix-like operating systems. For instance, it can be used as a disassembler to view an executable in assembly form. It is part of the GNU Binutils for fine-grained control over executables and other binary data.

When to use objdump?

The main purpose of the objdump command is to help in debugging the object file….It is used for the following listed purposes:

  1. To retrieve archive header.
  2. To get the offset of the file.
  3. To get the bfdname.
  4. To get the demangle.
  5. To debug the file.
  6. To disassemble the file.
  7. To retrieve the file headers.

Which command would you use to Dissassemble a object file?

Objdump command in Linux is used to provide thorough information on object files. This command is mainly used by the programmers who work on compilers, but still its a very handy tool for normal programmers also when it comes to debugging.

What’s the difference between objdump and readelf?

readelf and objdump objdump has a similar function but with different features like disassembling. The main difference is that readelf does not depend on BFD and helps to check if BFD works.

What is objdump C?

Objdump displays information about one or more object files, either on their own, or inside libraries. It is commonly used as a disassembler, but it can also display information about file headers, symbol tables, relocations, debugging directives and more.

What is an ELF image?

ELF files are Executable Linkable Format which consists of a symbol look-ups and relocatable table, that is, it can be loaded at any memory address by the kernel and automatically, all symbols used, are adjusted to the offset from that memory address where it was loaded into.

How do you use nm command?

The default information that the ‘nm’ command provides is :

  1. Virtual address of the symbol.
  2. A character which depicts the symbol type. If the character is in lower case then the symbol is local but if the character is in upper case then the symbol is external.
  3. Name of the symbol.

How do I read a .LFF file?

gcc produces executable files in the ELF file format. you can use readelf and objdump to read parts of an elf file. You can also use ‘hexdump filename’ to get a hexdump of the contents of a binary file (this is likely only useful if you like reading machine code or you are writing an assembler).

What is ELF object file format?

In computing, the Executable and Linkable Format (ELF, formerly named Extensible Linking Format), is a common standard file format for executable files, object code, shared libraries, and core dumps.

What is readelf used for?

readelf is a program for displaying various information about object files on Unix-like systems such as objdump. It is part of the GNU binutils.

How do I extract ELF files?

Extract elf file

  1. To select the elf file, you have two options: Click “Select elf file to open” to open the file chooser.
  2. Click the green “Save” button on the individual files to save to your local drive.
  3. OPTIONAL: Click blue “Preview” button to open directly in the browser. This option only available for some file types.