Definitions for "COFF"
Keywords:  vax, elf, superseded, portable, unix
The Common Object File Format (COFF) is a file format for executables, object code, and, in later systems, shared libraries; it was introduced in Unix System V on non-VAX 32-bit platforms such as the 3B20, and was later used by Microsoft as the basis of the Portable Executable format for Windows NT. It was superseded by the more powerful ELF in System V Release 4, but as of 2006, its derivative Portable Executable is still used in Windows.