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Asked: 2026-05-29T19:38:27+00:00

I encountered this while trying to understand ELF (Executable and Linking Format). Steps I

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I encountered this while trying to understand ELF (Executable and Linking Format).

Steps I followed

  1. Wrote a simple application.
    main.c containing
    int main(int argc, char **argv){ return 0;}
  2. Compiled in linux environment using gcc. (Done on intel laptop)
    Simplest command possible
    gcc main.c
  3. Now when I run a.out, it runs without any issue. So build is fine.
  4. I used readelf tool to retrieve the ELF information, where in machine field is put as Advanced Micro Devices X86-64.
    This part puzzled me.

So I checked the file header of a.out, it was as per ELF-64 specification (Value 64 - EM_X86_64).

Would anyone care to explain, why does the executable, built in 64 bit mode on linux, show machine type as AMD x86 64?

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1 Answer

  1. Editorial Team

    The x86_64 platform was called the AMD64 platform back when AMD introduced it. Initially, it was far from clear that Intel would ever support it.

    You notice how long after i386’s ceases to exist, a lot of software had the architecture tag i386? It was because i386 CPUs introduced the instruction set that software uses. Similarly, AMD introduced the instruction set your program uses, so it has an architecture tag that reflects the first CPUs that supported its instruction set. (Modern 32-bit code is still often tagged i686 which refers to the Pentium Pro, circa 1995.)

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