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(as.info)Object

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Output (Object) File
====================

   Every time you run `as' it produces an output file, which is your
assembly language program translated into numbers.  This file is the
object file.  Its default name is `a.out', or `b.out' when `as' is
configured for the Intel 80960.  You can give it another name by using
the `-o' option.  Conventionally, object file names end with `.o'.  The
default name is used for historical reasons: older assemblers were
capable of assembling self-contained programs directly into a runnable
program.  (For some formats, this isn't currently possible, but it can
be done for the `a.out' format.)

   The object file is meant for input to the linker `ld'.  It contains
assembled program code, information to help `ld' integrate the
assembled program into a runnable file, and (optionally) symbolic
information for the debugger.