Binutils

Binutils is a collection of binary tools developed as part of the GNU project for creating, inspecting, manipulating, and relocating object and binary files. It provides the essential components of the GNU toolchain used on many Unix-like systems, often in conjunction with the GNU Compiler Collection (GCC) to build and analyze executables and libraries for various architectures.

The core tools in binutils include as, the GNU assembler; ld, the linker; nm, which lists symbols defined or referenced in object files; objdump, a disassembler and object file inspector; readelf, which displays detailed information about ELF format binaries; and strip, which removes symbol and debugging information to reduce file size. Additional utilities include ar, the archiver used to create and manage libraries; size and strings for size and content analysis; and helper tools such as addr2line (mapping addresses to source lines) and c++filt (demangling C++ symbols). These tools support a wide range of object formats and target architectures, enabling cross-compilation and analysis across different platforms.

Binutils are used to build and analyze software at various stages, from compiling and linking to debugging and optimizing binary output. They are widely included in Linux distributions and are integral to many development workflows, including kernel builds and embedded systems development. The suite is maintained by the Free Software Foundation as part of the GNU project and is released under the GNU General Public License.

See also: GNU project, GCC, ELF (Executable and Linkable Format).