Thread: What exactly is in object code?

I am reading a C++ book, and it describes the process to create an executable is the following:

1) Write source
2) Compiler reads through source, creates object file
3) Linker combines object code with other machine language necessary to create an executable

Im just not exactly sure what is in the object code

thx

Object code, or machine language as it is sometimes called, is the binary representation of the assembly output of the compiler. It is the way the computer represents programs internally.

Almost, but not quite yet. A linker must resolve library calls in the object code, calculate the start addresses of the program segments and insert them in the executable file header.

that's the answer I was looking for, thanks