SIZE(1)

📦
version 26.09 · 2 versions
, in nixpkgs unstable

💅 size(1) — GNU Development Tools 🎀

okay bestie, you know how sometimes you just need to know how thicc your binary is? like which chunk of it is living its best life in .text and which part is just vibing in .bss? yeah. this is that tool. it's size from the GNU Development Tools gang, and it's lowkey iconic. 🦋

✨ NAME ✨

size — list section sizes and total size of binary files 💖

🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

size [-A|-B|-G|--format=compatibility]
     [--help]
     [-d|-o|-x|--radix=number]
     [--common]
     [-t|--totals]
     [--target=bfdname] [-V|--version]
     [-f]
     [objfile...]

🫶 DESCRIPTION 🫶

so the GNU size utility is literally here to list the section sizes and the total size for each of the binary files objfile on its argument list. no cap. every file gets its moment.

by default you get one line of output per file — or per module, if the file you handed over is an archive (yes, an archive counts, she contains multitudes 💀).

objfile... are the files to be examined. and if you specify none of them? the file a.out will be used instead. classic default behavior, we love a fallback. ✨

🔥 OPTIONS 🔥

the command-line options have the following meanings, and honestly? every single one of them is doing her job:

  • -A, -B, -G, --format=compatibility — using one of these options, you can choose whether the output from GNU size resembles output from System V size (that's -A, or --format=sysv), or Berkeley size (that's -B, or --format=berkeley). the default is the one-line format similar to Berkeley's. alternatively, you can choose the GNU format output (that's -G, or --format=gnu) — this is similar to Berkeley's output format, but sizes are counted differently. 👑

here's an example of the Berkeley (default) format of output from size:

$ size --format=Berkeley ranlib size
   text    data     bss     dec     hex filename
 294880   81920   11592  388392   5ed28 ranlib
 294880   81920   11888  388688   5ee50 size

the Berkeley style output counts read only data in the "text" column, not in the "data" column, and the "dec" and "hex" columns both display the sum of the "text", "data", and "bss" columns in decimal and hexadecimal respectively. periodt. 📊

the GNU format counts read only data in the "data" column, not the "text" column, and only displays the sum of the "text", "data", and "bss" columns once, in the "total" column. the --radix option can be used to change the number base for all columns. here's the same data displayed with GNU conventions:

$ size --format=GNU ranlib size
      text       data        bss      total filename
    279880      96920      11592     388392 ranlib
    279880      96920      11888     388688 size

and this is the same data, but displayed closer to System V conventions:

$ size --format=SysV ranlib size
ranlib  :
section         size         addr
.text         294880         8192
.data          81920       303104
.bss           11592       385024
Total         388392

size  :
section         size         addr
.text         294880         8192
.data          81920       303104
.bss           11888       385024
Total         388688
  • --help, -h, -H, -? — show a summary of acceptable arguments and options. your little cheat sheet bestie 🫶
  • -d, -o, -x, --radix=number — using one of these options, you can control whether the size of each section is given in decimal (-d, or --radix=10); octal (-o, or --radix=8); or hexadecimal (-x, or --radix=16). in --radix=number, only the three values (8, 10, 16) are supported. and listen — the total size is always given in two radices; decimal and hexadecimal for -d or -x output, or octal and hexadecimal if you're using -o. she's giving extra, and honestly? deserved. 🔢
  • --common — print total size of common symbols in each file. when using Berkeley or GNU format these are included in the bss size. 🌈
  • -t, --totals — show totals of all objects listed (Berkeley or GNU format mode only, okay? only those two). 🧮
  • --target=bfdname — specify that the object-code format for objfile is bfdname. this option may not be necessary; size can automatically recognize many formats. she's smart like that. 💅
  • -v, -V, --version — display the version number of size. 🏷️
  • -f — ignored. this option is used by other versions of the size program, but it is not supported by the GNU Binutils version. so yeah, she's just here, not doing anything. 💀
  • @file — read command-line options from file. the options read are inserted in place of the original @file option. if file does not exist, or cannot be read, then the option will be treated literally, and not removed. 🙈

options in file are separated by whitespace. a whitespace character may be included in an option by surrounding the entire option in either single or double quotes. any character (including a backslash) may be included by prefixing the character to be included with a backslash. the file may itself contain additional @file options; any such options will be processed recursively. it's turtles all the way down, bestie 🐢

🦋 SEE ALSO 🦋

ar(1), objdump(1), readelf(1), and the Info entries for binutils. go read those next, iykyk 💜

Copyright (c) 1991-2026 Free Software Foundation, Inc.

permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.3 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no Invariant Sections, with no Front-Cover Texts, and with no Back-Cover Texts. a copy of the license is included in the section entitled "GNU Free Documentation License". 📜

and that's the whole vibe check, bestie — this page came to you straight from binutils-2.46.1, dated 1980-01-01 (yes, that date is real, she's an elder icon 👑). now go measure something. slay. 🎀💖

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