Dear Solaris Experts,
A term "Binary" always heard from UNIX experts. Somebody said "UNIX is binary....babababababa....."
What means of "Binary" in UNIX?
Thanks!
Ian

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Just like it sounds, the 'binary' is the compiled version of the code. When you program a computer, you do it in a higher level language since programming in binary, although possible, is usually futile and would take centuries. So when you compile the higher level language (like C or fortran and such) it becomes a 'binary' or machine code (lots of 1's and 0's) since that is actually how the CPU will execute its commands (you can check it out with Ultra Edit or some other binary interpreting text reader).

Binaries are specific for each CPU type. One CPU's binaries are not the same for a different CPU since the instruction sets are not the same. Hence a binary for a SPARC II CPU will not work on an Intel CPU. Just like a program for a new P4 will not run on a 286, instruction set is different.

Hope that helps.

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A Black Hole is God dividing by zero.

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