Editing Executable and Linkable Format (section)

{{Short description|Standard file format for executables, object code, shared libraries, and core dumps}}
{{Infobox file format
| name = Executable and Linkable Format
| icon = 
| extension = none, {{Mono|.axf}}, {{Mono|.bin}}, {{Mono|.elf}}, {{Mono|.o}}, {{Mono|.out}}, {{Mono|.prx}}, {{Mono|.puff}}, {{Mono|.ko}}, {{Mono|.mod}}, and {{Mono|.so}}
| mime =
| magic = <code>0x7F 'E' 'L' 'F'</code>
| developer = [[Unix System Laboratories]]<ref name="linuxbase-elf" />{{rp|3}}
| type = [[Binary file|Binary]], [[executable]], [[object code|object]], [[Library (computing)|shared library]], [[core dump]]
| container_for = Many executable binary formats
}}

[[File:Elf-layout--en.svg|thumb|upright=1.2|An ELF file has two views: the program header shows the ''segments'' used at run time, whereas the section header lists the set of ''sections''.]]

In [[computing]], the '''Executable and Linkable Format'''<ref name="linuxfoundation-elf">Tool Interface Standard (TIS) ''[https://refspecs.linuxfoundation.org/elf/TIS1.1.pdf Portable Formats Specification] Version 1.1'' (October 1993)</ref> ('''ELF''', formerly named '''Extensible Linking Format''') is a common standard [[file format]] for [[executable]] files, [[object code]], [[Shared library|shared libraries]], and [[core dump]]s. First published in the specification for the [[application binary interface]] (ABI) of the [[Unix]] operating system version named [[System V Release 4]] (SVR4),<ref>''[https://www.sco.com/developers/devspecs/gabi41.pdf System V Application Binary Interface]'' Edition 4.1 (1997-03-18)</ref> and later in the Tool Interface Standard,<ref name="linuxbase-elf">Tool Interface Standard (TIS) ''[https://refspecs.linuxbase.org/elf/elf.pdf Executable and Linking Format (ELF) Specification] Version 1.2'' (May 1995)</ref> it was quickly accepted among different vendors of [[Unix]] systems. In 1999, it was chosen as the standard binary file format for Unix and [[Unix-like]] systems on [[x86]] processors by the [[#86open|86open]] project.

By design, the ELF format is flexible, extensible, and [[cross-platform]]. For instance, it supports different [[endiannesses]] and address sizes so it does not exclude any particular [[central processing unit|CPU]] or [[instruction set architecture]]. This has allowed it to be adopted by many different [[operating system]]s on many different hardware [[Computing platform|platforms]].