Executables

Container formats for machine executable code. These often define different sections to be loaded into memory. Some formats may be compatible with different CPU architectures.

• a.out
• COM — DOS executable
• COFF — The Common Object File Format, an executable format originally designed for use in UNIX System V
• EXE — The original DOS executable format, with variants like NE (New Executable), PE (Portable Executable, actually a COFF variant), LX (Linear Executable) and others, as used in Microsoft MS-DOS and MS Windows (and some other operating systems like SkyOS)
• ELF
• Intel HEX

See also Source code for code in a higher-level programming language that needs to be compiled, assembled, or interpreted.