32-bit and 64-bit Libraries

The Solaris operating environment provides shared libraries for both 32-bit and 64-bit compilation environments.

32-bit applications must link with 32-bit libraries, and 64-bit applications must link with 64-bit libraries. It is not possible to create or execute a 32-bit application using 64-bit libraries. The 32-bit libraries continue to be located in /usr/lib and /usr/ccs/lib. The 64-bit libraries are located in a subdirectory of the appropriate lib directory. Because the placement of the 32-bit libraries has not changed, 32-bit applications built on prior releases are binary compatible. Portable Makefiles should refer to any library directories using the 64 symbolic link.

In order to build 64-bit applications, you need 64-bit libraries. It is possible to do either native or cross-compilation, because the 64-bit libraries are available for both 32-bit and 64-bit environments. The compiler and other miscellaneous tools (for example; ld, ar, and as) are 32–bit programs capable of building 64-bit programs on 32-bit or 64-bit systems. Of course, a 64-bit program built on a system running the 32-bit operating system cannot execute in that 32-bit environment.