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Object File - CI/CD Glossary Definition

An object file is the compiled output of one source file, holding machine code and a symbol table but not yet linked into an executable.

An object file (.o, .obj) is the compiled machine code of a single source file before linking. It contains code, data, and a symbol table but is not yet executable on its own.

An object file (.o, .obj) is the compiled machine code of a single source file before linking. It contains code, data, and a symbol table but is not yet executable on its own.

In CI

Incremental builds recompile only the source files that changed, reusing cached object files for the rest. Preserving object files in a build cache across CI runs is what makes large C and C++ pipelines fast.

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