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Python needs an actual default function (lemmynsfw.com)

submitted 1 month ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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Also, do y'all call main() in the if block or do you just put the code you want to run in the if block?

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[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (8 children)

Can someone explain to me how to compile a C library with "main" and a program with main? How does executing a program actually work? It has an executable flag, but what actually happens in the OS when it encounters a file with an executable file? How does it know to execute "main"? Is it possible to have a library that can be called and also executed like a program?

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 month ago

I haven't done much low level stuff, but I think the 'main' function is something the compiler uses to establish an entry point for the compiled binary. The name 'main' would not exist in the compiled binary at all, but the function itself would still exist. Executable formats aren't all the same, so they'll have different ways of determining where this entry point function is expected to be. You can 'run' a binary library file by invoking a function contained therein, which is how DLL files work.

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