In Unix and Unix-like operating systems, a soname is a field of data in a shared object file. The soname is a string, which is used as a “logical name” describing the functionality of the object. Typically, that name is equal to the filename of the library, or to a prefix thereof, e.g. libc.

What is a library in Linux?

A Library in Linux

A library is a collection of pre-compiled pieces of code called functions. The library contains common functions and together, they form a package called — a library. Functions are blocks of code that get reused throughout the program. … Libraries play their role at run time or compile time.

What is shared object file in Linux?

Shared libraries are named in two ways: the library name (a.k.a soname) and a “filename” (absolute path to file which stores library code). For example, the soname for libc is libc. so. 6: where lib is the prefix, c is a descriptive name, so means shared object, and 6 is the version. And its filename is: /lib64/libc.