Native executable
A native executable is a directly runnable program compiled into machine code for a specific operating-system and processor architecture.
Quarkus in Action
A native executable is a standalone machine-code program that runs directly on a target operating system and processor architecture without requiring a managed runtime.
- How it is used
- Packages Quarkus applications for direct execution and container deployment, particularly when startup time matters.
- How deep it goes
- Explains ahead-of-time compilation and platform specificity, then gives build and run commands without detailing GraalVM internals.
- Examples
- Builds a generated Quarkus application with Maven, Gradle, or the Quarkus CLI and runs its generated binary.
- What you can do after
- Operate/configure it with Quarkus build commands, including a container build, and choose it against JVM packaging for a target workload.
Logs and Telemetry
A native executable is a compiled program produced for a specific operating-system and hardware platform and run directly by that platform.
- How it is used
- Supports fast, low-footprint observability agents and privately delivered extensions.
- How deep it goes
- Explains runtime and platform trade-offs, then applies binaries through OS-monitoring configuration rather than build internals.
- Examples
- Demonstrates Fluent Bit disk, CPU, memory, and network monitoring with five-second input intervals and stdout output.
- What you can do after
- Evaluate/understand native-binary efficiency, compatibility risks, and practical platform workarounds.
The Art of Code
Native execution runs compiled program code directly for a target operating-system and processor platform without an intermediate virtual-machine execution layer.
- How it is used
- Uses native compilation as an efficiency strategy for reducing runtime overhead and device resource consumption.
- How deep it goes
- Explains direct execution, platform-specific compilation, and resource effects without detailing compiler internals.
- Examples
- Uses Java applications compiled by GraalVM Native Image into platform-specific executables.
- What you can do after
- Evaluate when platform-specific native compilation can reduce startup, memory, and CPU costs.
Learn Docker in a Month of Lunches, Second Edition
A native binary is an executable program compiled for a specific operating-system and processor platform without requiring a separate language runtime.
- How it is used
- Packages compiled applications into small Docker images without carrying a language runtime into the final stage.
- How deep it goes
- Explains compilation targets, runtime independence, multi-stage copying, and Linux permissions through a concrete Dockerfile.
- Examples
- Uses a Go web application, a /server binary, minimal container stages, chmod, and a 35.1MB image.
- What you can do after
- Builds a Go binary in Docker and packages it into a minimal runnable image.
Read how Learn Docker in a Month of Lunches, Second Edition explains native executable →
Related concepts
- Goproduced by · Go is a statically typed, compiled, garbage-collected programming language with built-in support for concurrency.
- ahead-of-time compilationproduced by · Ahead-of-time compilation is the translation of program code into executable or loadable form before program execution begins.
- GraalVMproduced by · GraalVM is a polyglot runtime and development platform for running and compiling applications in Java and other programming languages.
- native compilationproduced by · Native compilation is ahead-of-time compilation of application code into platform-specific machine code that runs without a just-in-time compiler.
- native imageproduced by · A native image is a standalone executable produced by compiling an application and its required runtime components ahead of execution.
- configuration profileconfigured by · A configuration profile is a named collection of settings that selects a particular software operating, installation, connection, or service configuration.
These guides are generated from the text of Manning books by Manning's knowledge graph and link to the sections they draw on. The full books are available on liveBook and at manning.com.