Why the load of main by _start uses got entry, not adrp+add pair?
The _start function uses a Global Offset Table (GOT) entry to load the address of main primarily because _start is defined in a pre-compiled object file (typically Scrt1.o) that was…
Category: Knowledge Base
AArch64 Pre/Post Indexing
In AArch64 (ARMv8-A 64-bit architecture), Pre-indexing and Post-indexing are memory addressing modes used with Load (LDR) and Store (STR) instructions. Their primary purpose is to perform Writeback: they automatically update…
PIE Relocation: Tagging Addresses
In a Position-Independent Executable (PIE), absolute addresses aren't "tagged" directly within the machine code. Instead, the linker creates a separate list of instructions and data locations that need fixing, and this…
Understanding Binary File Components
Symbol Table Think of the symbol table as a directory for the "named things" within your code, like functions and global variables. When you compile a source file, the compiler creates an…
Control Dependence Graph and Data Dependence Graph
A Control Dependence Graph (CDG) and a Data Dependence Graph (DDG) are essential tools in computer science, particularly in compiler design and program analysis. They represent the dependencies between different parts of a program's code,…