Parse and Display Symbol Tables

Symbols Bridge Compilation Units

Each .o file exports defined symbols and imports undefined ones. The linker's job is to match undefined call foo relocations with global foo definitions. nm, objdump -t, and LLD's verbose mode show the same tables.

Symbol Attributes

Name, value (address), size, type (FUNC, OBJECT), binding (LOCAL, GLOBAL, WEAK), and section index. Undefined symbols have section index 0 and value 0 until resolved.

cCopy
Loading…

• T/t: text (code), defined/local
• U: undefined, needs linker resolution
• Weak symbols allow override by strong definitions
• Static locals get local binding

Connecting to real compilers

Production compilers embed this step inside a longer pipeline. GCC flows through cpp, cc1, assembly, and ld; Clang uses the driver, Sema, LLVM IR passes, and a target backend. LLVM bitcode, JVM bytecode, and WASM are other familiar IRs at the same layer. The exercise isolates one pass so you can test it alone before chaining it to the next stage.

Why for this exercise

You will parse and display symbol tables from object files. This exercise requires reading symbol entries and reporting name, address, type, and binding for each symbol.