Thread: A C decompiler

Originally Posted by Strahd

Hello I am trying to locate a free decompiler that will allow me to view the C code of a *.o file, which came from a library file *.o files came from the ar command of the library file).

I found a couple of them, such as C-Decompiler and boomerang, but for some reason they are not working and I haven't been able to find documentation on how to use them.

And it is no problem to send the library file if someone has one and is willing to do it.

Thank You

A tool that can handle all types of object files is probably not going to be easy to find simply because the format is so compiler dependent. On the other hand, decompilers for executable formats (ELF, PE, etc) are quite common.

I've not worked much with decompilers so I may be wrong here, but afaik they don't produce nice-to-read C code. Since a lot of information is lost in turning the code into object files (such variable names or statement structure, whitespace, etc) the decompiler has to take a best-guess approach in recreating this information. Take a look at Boomerang's Can-Do page.