Builds

Question 1

What is program building?

Answer 1

The creation of an executable from one or more source files

Question 2

What is a program executable?

Answer 2

A file that contains machine code instructions (instructions are OS and CPU dependant)

Question 3

What are the two steps required for transforming C code into an executable?

Answer 3

Compilation and linking

Question 4

What does preprocessing do?

Answer 4

It interprets all the preprocessing directives of one source file

Question 5

What do preprocessing directives begin with?

Answer 5

#

Question 6

What are the input and output of preprocessing?

Answer 6

Input: source code from one source file
Output: New source code with substitutions incorporated

Question 7

What is a header file?

Answer 7

File containing information needed by multiple source files, such as data type definitions and function prototypes. It never contains function implementations or any statements.

Question 8

Use ______ to include a header file from a library

Answer 8

angle brackets

Question 9

Use ______ to include a header file from the current directory

Answer 9

double quotes

Question 10

What does compiling do?

Answer 10

Translates source code into assembly code while performing optimizations

Question 11

Compiler input:

Answer 11

Source code from one source file

Question 12

Compiler output:

Answer 12

The corresponding assembly code

Question 13

What does assembling do?

Answer 13

It translates assembly code into object code

Question 14

Assembler input:

Answer 14

Assembly code from one source file

Question 15

Assembler output:

Answer 15

Corresponding object code

Question 16

What does linking do?

Answer 16

Combines code from multiple object files into one executable

Question 17

Linking input:

Answer 17

Object code from multiple object files, including library ones

Question 18

Linking output:

Answer 18

One executable file

Question 19

Why do we separate compiling and linking?

Answer 19

Object files may come from different source languages, you can link object code from libraries into your executable, you only need to recompile the source files that have changed

Question 20

What is a library?

Answer 20

A collection of related functions written by other programmers

Question 21

To use a library:

Answer 21

Include the library header file, using a preprocessor directive, OR link in the library object file

Question 22

What are the two types of linking?

Answer 22

Static linking and dynamic linking

Question 23

What is static linking?

Answer 23

The library object code is copied into the executable- results in larger but faster executable

Question 24

What is dynamic linking?

Answer 24

Default setting- object code is loaded at runtime. There’s a smaller executable, but slower execution time

Question 25

What is a makefile?

Answer 25

Text file called Makefile with no file extension

Question 26

What are Makefiles used for?

Answer 26

Managing the dependencies between files

Question 27

Why use a makefile?

Answer 27

It keeps track of what needs to be recompiled

Question 28

How do makefiles keep track of what needs to be recompiled?

Answer 28

Comparing timestamps

Question 29

What’s a makefile macro?

Answer 29

Similar to a variable, they can be used to define groups of files and specify compilation options