Preferred Executable Format
| Preferred Executable Format | |
|---|---|
| Developed by | Apple Computer |
| Type of format | executable |
| Container for | PowerPC executable and object code |
The Preferred Executable Format is a file format that specifies the format of executable files and other object code. PEF executables are also called Code Fragment Manager files (CFM).
PEF was developed by Apple Computer for use in its Mac OS operating system. It was optimised for RISC processors such as the PowerPC but allowed Apple to create fat binaries that also included CISC code for their 68k processors in a separate fork. [1]
In Mac OS X, the Mach-O file format is the native executable format. However, PEF is still supported on PowerPC-based Macintoshes and is used by some Carbon applications ported from earlier Mac OS versions.
On June 6 2005 at the annual WWDC, Apple Computer announced that Macintoshes would be switching to the Intel processor starting in 2006. As a result of the switch, PEF was deprecated and it was announced that the PEF binary format would not be supported on Intel Macintoshes except through the Rosetta PowerPC emulation software.
References
- ^ Apple Computer (March 11, 1997). "Creating Fat Binary Programs". Retrieved 2006-05-01.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: year (link)
External links
- PEF Structure - documentation at developer.apple.com