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Code segment

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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by MetaEntropy (talk | contribs) at 11:03, 11 November 2010 ((1)Reentrancy has nothing to do with read-only code. (2) Depending on system, code segments may be placed pretty anywhere in memory...). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

In computing, a code segment, also known as a text segment or simply as text, is a phrase used to refer to a portion of memory or of an object file that contains executable instructions.

It has a fixed size and is usually read-only. If the text section is not read-only, then the particular architecture allows self-modifying code. Fixed-position or position independent code may be shared in memory by several processes in segmented or paged memory systems.

As a memory region, a code segment may be placed below the heap or stack in order to prevent heaps and stack overflows from overwriting it.

See also