Linker

The first big step in building a C project is compiling all the source files to their corresponding relocatable object files. This step is a necessary step in preparing the final products, but alone, it is not enough, and one more step is still needed. Before going through the details of this step, we need to have a quick look at the possible products (sometimes referred to as artifacts) in a C project.

A C/C++ project can lead to the following products:

• A number of executable files that usually have the .out extension in most Unix-like operating systems. These files usually have the .exe extension in Microsoft Windows.
• A number of static libraries that usually have the .a extension in most Unix-like operating systems. These files have the .lib extension in Microsoft Windows.
• A number of dynamic libraries or shared object files that usually have the .so extension in most Unix-like operating systems. These files have the .dylib extension in macOS, and...