fat binary

fat binary

(operating system)

An executable file containing code for more than one CPU. The correct code is selected automatically at run time. This is convenient for distributing software and sharing it between multiple platforms.

NEXTSTEP supports fat binaries, e.g. for Motorola 68000, Intel 80486 and SPARC ("triple fat"). Mac OS supports fat binaries for both 680x0 and PowerPC native code.

This article is provided by FOLDOC - Free Online Dictionary of Computing (foldoc.org)

fat binary

Software that is distributed in two formats in order to ease transition to a new hardware architecture. For example, when Apple switched from Motorola 68K CPUs to PowerPC (PPC) chips in 1994, it provided a fat binary format containing both 68K and PPC machine languages. Again in 2006 when Apple switched from PPC to Intel chips, it created a PPC/Intel fat binary, dubbed the "universal binary."

Copyright © 1981-2025 by The Computer Language Company Inc. All Rights reserved. THIS DEFINITION IS FOR PERSONAL USE ONLY. All other reproduction is strictly prohibited without permission from the publisher.