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I’m having trouble understanding how compilers and linkers work and the files they create. More specifically, how do .cpp, .h, .lib, .dll, .o, .exe all work together? I am mostly interested in C++, but was also wondering about Java and C#. Any books/links would be appreciated!
There are suprisingly few books on this topic Here are some thoughts:
Do not bother withn the Dragon Book unless you are actually writing a compiler using a table driven approach. It is a very hard read abd does not cover the simplest approach to parsing – recursive descent – in any detail. Caveat: I haven’t read the leatest edition.
If you actually want to write a compiler, take a look at “Brinch Hansen on Pascal Compilers“, which is an easy read and provides the full siource for a small pascal compiler. Don’t let the pascal stuff put you off – the lessons it teaches are applicable to all compiled languages.
When it comes to linking, there are very few resources. The best book I’ve read on the subject is Linkers & Loaders.