What is Absolute Object Code?

Absolute object code is machine code that contains references to actual addresses within the program's address space. When the linker combines relocatable object files to build a program file, or a.out file, it writes absolute object code into the file. Thus, when the program is executed, its routines and data must reside at the addresses determined by the linker.

Note that absolute object code does not contain physical addresses. Physical addresses refer to exact locations in physical memory. Instead, absolute object code contains virtual addresses within a process's address space. These virtual addresses are mapped to physical addresses by the HP-UX virtual memory management system.

Because program files contain absolute virtual addresses, the HP-UX program loader, exec, must always load the code and data into the same location within a process's address space. Because this code always resides at the same location within the address space, and because it contains virtual addresses, it is not suitable for shared libraries, although it can be shared by several processes running the same program.