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GNU Binutils

GNU software development tools for executable code

Wikipedia contributorsAdapted for Fathomly · View authors
1 min read
Source updated August 26, 2026
Image credit is listed at the end of this article.

The GNU Binary Utilities, or binutils, is a collection of programming tools maintained by the GNU Project for working with executable code including assembly, linking and many other development operations.

The tools are originally from Cygnus Solutions.

The tools are typically used along with other GNU tools such as GNU Compiler Collection, and the GNU Debugger.

01Tools

As of 26 July 2026 the tools include:
addr2lineconvert address to file and line
arcreate, modify, and extract from archives
asassembler popularly known as GAS (GNU Assembler)
c++filtdemangling filter for C++ symbols
dlltoolcreation of Windows dynamic-link libraries
elfeditallows alteration of ELF format files
goldalternative linker for ELF files
gprofprofiler
gprofngcollects and displays application performance data
ldlinker
nlmconvobject file conversion to a NetWare Loadable Module
nmlist symbols exported by object files
objcopycopy object files, possibly making changes
objdumpdump information about object files
ranlibgenerate indices for archives (for compatibility; same as ar -s)
readelfdisplay contents of ELF files
sizelist section sizes and total size of binary files
stringslist printable strings
stripremove symbols from object files
windmcgenerates Windows message resources
windrescompiler for Windows resource files

02elfutils

Ulrich Drepper wrote elfutils, to partially replace GNU Binutils, purely for Linux and with support only for ELF and DWARF. It distributes three libraries with it for programmatic access.

Watch videos about GNU BinutilsExplainers and documentaries on YouTube (opens in a new tab)

Sources and credits

This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “GNU Binutils”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.

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