Binutils

The GNU Binutils are a collection of binary tools.

The main ones are: the GNU linker.

• the GNU assembler.

But they also include:

• Converts addresses into filenames and line numbers. 
•  A utility for creating, modifying and extracting from archives. 
•  Filter to demangle encoded C++ symbols. 
•  Creates files for building and using DLLs. 
•  A new, faster, ELF only linker, still in beta test.  
• Displays profiling information. 
• Converts object code into an NLM.
• Lists symbols from object files 
• Copies and translates object files. 
• Displays information from object files. 
• Generates an index to the contents of an archive 
• Displays information from any ELF format object file. 
• Lists the section sizes of an object or archive file. 
• Lists printable strings from files. 
• Discards symbols. 
• A Windows compatible message compiler. 
• A compiler for Windows resource files. 

Most of these programs use BFD, the Binary File Descriptor library, to do low-level manipulation. Many of them also use the opcodes library to assemble and disassemble machine instructions.