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Asked: 2026-06-08T16:52:19+00:00

I created a file containing the following line: int main() { return 0; }

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I created a file containing the following line:

int main() { return 0; }

After compiling this, I was surprised to find out that the binary for this simple program is 8328 bytes! What is going on here, and what in the world is the binary doing in those 8328 bytes? Surely this program can be expressed in just a few lines of assembly.

Note: I compiled this with the following line:

g++ main.cpp

My g++ version is g++ (Ubuntu/Linaro 4.6.1-9ubuntu3) 4.6.1

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1 Answer

  1. Editorial Team

    There’s a lot in that binary:

    • a header to make the binary self-describing (try running file on it)
    • a symbol table, which the strip tool will remove for you (or link with gcc -s)
    • the names and locations of shared libraries that you never use (five of them on my box; try the ldd and strings tools)
    • startup code that loads those libraries and sets up argc and argv, then calls main
    • shutdown code that returns main‘s return value to the operating system.

    For comic effect, try linking that program statically, where your binary will include the functions that would normally be dynamically linked to DLLs. (however, this option will simplify deployment)

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