You Cannot Decompile .EXE or .OBJ Files Back to Basic Source (58956)

SUMMARY

Microsoft does not currently offer any product capable of "decompiling" an object (.OBJ) or executable (.EXE) file back to the original source code (.BAS). The following are several reasons for this:

1. No decompiler could exactly reproduce the original source code.
   
   When a program is compiled to an object and linked to produce an executable, most of the "names" used in the original program are converted to addresses. This loss of names means that a decompiler would have to create unique names for all the variables, procedures, and labels, and these names would not be meaningful in the context of the program.
   
   Obviously, source language syntax no longer exists in the compiled object file or executable. It would be very difficult for a decompiler to interpret the series of machine language instructions that exist in an object or executable file and decide what the original source language instruction was.
2. If such a decompiler did exist and was available, anyone could use it to decompile any executable program produced in the language the decompiler was designed for.
   
   For example, if a Microsoft Basic decompiler existed, anyone with that decompiler could use it on an executable that you had produced and from that executable obtain a copy of your source code. The source code to any program you wrote in Microsoft Basic would be available to anyone with the decompiler. Few developers of commercial software would want to use a language product that could be deciphered, thus allowing others to obtain their source code.

This information applies to Microsoft QuickBasic Versions 1.00, 1.01, 1.02, 2.00, 2.01, 3.00, 4.00, 4.00b, 4.50 for MS-DOS, to Microsoft Basic Compiler Versions 6.00 and 6.00b for MS-DOS and MS OS/2, and to Microsoft Basic Professional Development System (PDS) Version 7.00 for MS-DOS and MS OS/2.