decompiler

[jan1024188]

is there any software that gives you souce from .exe programs?

[WaltP]

No. Once compiled the source code cannot be retrieved.

[jan1024188]

but why?

[~s.o.s~]

but why?

Probably because of the way in which the object file is generated from the source file...

The actual C / C++ source code goes thorough a lot of transformations and platform specific optimizations during its compilation and building phase which make the source code from the object file to be retrieved almost impossible.

[jan1024188]

AM....thanks sos...

[Mushy-pea]

There are some applications whose developers claim can (in some cases) retrieve a C - like representation of the original source from a .exe file. It is generally believed that reverse compilation of 3rd level languages is difficult bacause there may not always be a one to one mapping between source and compiled binary. It is certainly impossible to retrieve C++ code from a .exe because all class structures are thrown away before the binary is produced.

Steven.

[John A]

Assembly on the other hand, can be disassembled fairly easily from an executable because it's so low-level. Java is also very easy to decompile; you can get almost an exact replica of the original source code if you run it through a decompiler because it's only compiled to bytecode.