The Java Platform, Standard Edition since J2SE 5.0 has included a metadata facility to allow additional annotations that are used by development tools.

In Java, the class file format contains metadata used by the Java compiler and the Java virtual machine to dynamically link classes and to support reflection. However, it is difficult if not impossible to precisely distinguish program 'metadata' from general aspects of stored-program computing architecture if the machine reads it and acts upon it, it is a computational instruction, and the prefix 'meta' has little significance. Most executable file formats include what may be termed 'metadata' that specifies certain, usually configurable, behavioral runtime characteristics.

^ Metadata is casually used to describe the controlling data used in software architectures that are more abstract or configurable.

PC/GEOS, Geoworks Ensemble, NewDeal Office, Breadbox Ensemble MS-DOS System Manager applications ( HP LX series only) Windows, ReactOS, HX DOS Extender, BeOS (R3 only) OS/2 (2.0 and higher only), some 32-bit DOS extenders OS/2 (2.0 and higher only), some DOS extenders MS-DOS 4.0 (multitasking), OS/2, Windows, HX DOS Extender

elf is sometimes used unofficially )ĬP/M-86, MP/M-86, Concurrent CP/M-86, Personal CP/M-86, S5-DOS, Concurrent DOS, Concurrent DOS 286, FlexOS, S5-DOS/ST, S5-DOS/MT, Concurrent DOS 386, Multiuser DOS, System Manager, REAL/32, DOS PlusįlexOS 186, FlexOS 286, S5-DOS/ST, S5-DOS/MT, 4680 OS, FlexOS 386, 4690 OSįlexOS 286, S5-DOS/ST, S5-DOS/MT, 4680 OS, FlexOS 386, 4690 OSĬP/M, MP/M, Concurrent CP/M, Personal CP/MĭOS, OS/2, Windows (except for 64-bit editions), Concurrent CP/M-86 ( BDOS 3.1 only), Concurrent DOS, Concurrent DOS 286, FlexOS, Concurrent DOS 386, Multiuser DOS, System Manager, REAL/32, DOS PlusĭOS, OS/2, Windows (except for 64-bit editions), Concurrent DOS 286, FlexOS, Concurrent DOS 386, Multiuser DOS, System Manager, REAL/32, DOS Plus Unix-like, OpenVMS, BeOS from R4 onwards, Haiku, SerenityOS

IBM MVS and z/OS mainframe operating systems OS/360 and successors, and VS/9, mainframe operating systems Among those formats listed, the ones in most common use are PE (on Microsoft Windows), ELF (on Linux and most other versions of Unix), Mach-O (on macOS and iOS) and MZ (on DOS). In addition to the binary application code, the executables may contain headers and tables with relocation and fixup information as well as various kinds of meta data. This is a comparison of binary executable file formats which, once loaded by a suitable executable loader, can be directly executed by the CPU rather than being interpreted by software.

Mac executable file