How an executable file is generated by a compiler? Explain the various compilation stages.

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Accepted Answer

An executable file is generated by a compiler through various compilation stages.

The compiler performs lexical analysis to break the source code into tokens.
The tokens are then parsed and analyzed for syntax and semantics.
The compiler generates an intermediate representation (IR) of the code.
Optimizations are applied to the IR to improve performance.
The IR is then transformed into assembly code specific to the target architecture.
The assembly code is assembled into object files.
The linker combines the object files and resolves dependencies.
Finally, the linker produces the executable file.

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