Creating programs from source modules

Program management components process the output of language translators and compilers to produce an executable program unit.

A program can be divided into logical units that perform specific functions. Each of these logical units of code is a module. Each module can be written in the symbolic language that best suits its particular function, for example, assembler, C, C++, COBOL, Fortran, or PL/I. Many modules can be bound or link-edited into a single executable program unit. Object modules produced by several different language translators can be merged to form a single program.

Note: This topic refers to binder processing and output. These concepts apply equally to linkage editor and batch loader processing unless otherwise noted in Using the linkage editor and batch loader. The linkage editor and batch loader cannot process program objects, extended object modules, or GOFF object modules.