Crt0


is a set of execution startup routines linked into a C program that performs any initialization work required before calling the program's main function. It generally takes the form of an object file called, often written in assembly language, which is automatically included by the linker into every executable file it builds.
contains the most basic parts of the runtime library. As such, the exact work it performs depends on the program's compiler, operating system and C standard library implementation. Beside the initialization work required by the environment and toolchain, can perform additional operations defined by the programmer, such as executing C++ global constructors and C functions carrying GCC's attribute.
"crt" stands for "C runtime", and the zero stands for "the very beginning". However, when programs are compiled using GCC, it is also used for languages other than C. Alternative versions of are available for special usage scenarios; for example, the profiler gprof requires its programs to be compiled with.

Example crt0.s

This example is for Linux x86-64 with AT&T syntax, without an actual C runtime.

.text
.globl _start
_start: # _start is the entry point known to the linker
xor %ebp, %ebp # effectively RBP := 0, mark the end of stack frames
mov, %edi # get argc from the stack
lea 8, %rsi # take the address of argv from the stack
lea 16, %rdx # take the address of envp from the stack
xor %eax, %eax # per ABI and compatibility with icc
call main # %edi, %rsi, %rdx are the three args to main
mov %eax, %edi # transfer the return of main to the first argument of _exit
xor %eax, %eax # per ABI and compatibility with icc
call _exit # terminate the program