Terminology

These terms are used by the Bedrock ELF ABI. ISA-level address, register, and effective-address terms keep the meanings defined by the architecture manual.

ELF ABI

The ELF, relocation, dynamic-linking, TLS, and code-model contract shared by language bindings and loaders.

pre-segment virtual address

The stable coordinate used by ELF symbols, relocations, ordinary function addresses, and ordinary data pointers before segment pre-translation.

load base

The runtime address bias applied to a loaded ET_DYN object before its symbol values and relative relocations are interpreted.

ABI-visible linkage domain

The region in which ordinary ELF code addresses are near-call entry points represented solely by pre-segment coordinates.

near-call entry address

A pre-segment code address that can be reached with ordinary CALL and returned from with ordinary RET inside the current linkage domain.

veneer

A near-call entry point supplied by a linker or loader to encapsulate a more complex transfer sequence for ordinary ABI callers.

code model

A set of placement and relocation assumptions used by code generation to choose direct displacement forms, GOT/PLT forms, or full-width address materialization.