Learning Malware Analysis

1.3.1 Program Compilation

The following list outlines the executable compilation process:

1. The source code is written in a high-level language, such as C or C++.
2. The source code of the program is run through the compiler. The compiler then translates the statements written in a high-level language into an intermediate form called an object file or machine code, which is not human-readable and is meant for execution by the processor. 
3. The object code is then passed through the linker. The linker links the object code with the required libraries (DLLs) to produce an executable that can be run on a system: