Linking and loading reading list

linking_and_loading.md

Resources on Linking and Loading

• The Linux Programming Interface by Michael Kerrisk: Chapter-41 and Chapter-42 will give you a general idea about Linking, shared libraries, PIC, Dynamic Linking etc. from a programmer's perspective.

• Computer SystemsA Programmer’s Perspective: Chapter-7 covers above mentioned topic more deeply. Covers some basic relocation algorithms/techniques.

• Linking: A good summery on ELF Lining, Loading and creating dynamic shared libraries.

• Shared libraries with GCC on Linux: Nice article on creating and using shared libraries with example.

• Shared Libraries: Understanding Dynamic Loading: Article on creating an managing shared libraries.

• ELF Format Specification: ELF format specification. Describes ELF file structure. Nicely written. Before reading this you should have a general idea of linking, relocation, loading, virtual memory etc.

• Principles of Operating Systems by UCI: Lecture-04 covers linking and loading concepts. I would suggest previous lectures too if you are new to assembly programming. Homework-02 is on implementing a simple loader. This helpful to grasp the ELF file structure and basic loading concept.

• Load-time relocation of shared libraries: An article covering details of load time relocation in shared library in x86 architecture.

• Position Independent Code (PIC) in shared libraries: An article covering details of PIC in X86 architecture. In depth discussion on topics like Global Offset Table and Procedure Linkage Table etc.

• Position Independent Code (PIC) in shared libraries on x64: Covers PIC in X86_64 architecture.

• BOOK Linking and Loading by John R. Levine: Bible of Linking and Loading.

• PAPER The Inside Story on Shared Libraries and Dynamic Linking: A really good indepth overview on shared libraries and dynamic linking.

• PAPER How To Write Shared Libraries: A paper on writing shared libraries. Describes ELF internals in details.

• How programs get run: A series of two articles explainig how programs run in the linux kernel with execve() system call. Part 1 and Part 2

• A Whirlwind Tutorial on Creating Really Teensy ELF Executables for Linux : A tutorial on making a minimal ELF binary from scratch.

• Linux Internals ~ Dynamic Linking Wizardry: Article on how dynamic linking works in Linux.

• ELF: symbol lookup via DT_HASH: Description of .hash section and how it works in dynamic linking.

• ELF: better symbol lookup via DT_GNU_HASH: Description of .gnu.hash section and how it works in dynamic linking.

• Strong and Weak Symbols in GCC: Describes strong and weak symbols with examples.

• The 101 of ELF files on Linux: Understanding and Analysis: ELF binary structure and tools for analysis.