I was reading Effective C++, 3rd edition and in item 2 (prefer const, enums, and inlines to #defines), Scott Meyers mentions the symbol table: he explains that #defines may not appear in the symbol table.
Based on the answer here, a bit of the suggested reading thereof, and the Wikipedia article, I would define the symbol table as follows: since the compiler only creates object files for every translation unit, we still need a way to reference symbols between the translation units. This is done using a table that is created for every object file so that symbols can be defined at a later stage - by the linker when the executable/library is created from the object files. During linking, symbols are substitutes with their appropriate memory addresses by the linker.
Here's what I'd like to know:
- Is my interpretation above correct?
- After linking, once the memory addresses have been resolved, I don't think that symbol tables are required? That is, I think that the symbol table won't be available in the executable/library; is that correct?
- I suspect that the symbol table is also useful for other compiler tasks? Something like identifying naming conflicts perhaps?
- The symbol table described above is not the same as the export table. In the context of Visual C++ at least, the export table defines the symbols that are explicitly declared as visible outside of the library. I suppose in a sense this is a table of symbols - but not related to the symbol table Scott is referring to.
- Is there anything else that's interesting about the symbol table? That is, is there any additional insight about symbol tables that I ought to have?
Thank you for your time and contribution.