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Executable File

Vangie Beal
Last Updated May 24, 2021 7:42 am

A file in a format that the computer can directly execute. Unlike source files, executable files cannot be read by humans. To transform a source file into an executable file, you need to pass it through a compiler or assembler.

In DOS systems, executable files have either a.COM or.EXE extension and are called COM files and EXE files, respectively.