disassembler : Java Glossary

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Disassemblers for Java class files, i.e. JVM byte code.
Java Disassemblers
ClassCracker	written in pure Java.
D-Java	Defunct. by Shawn Silverman, has trouble with long filenames, uses DOS/DPMI, written in C.
Dis	written in C
JadEclipse	Opensource Eclipse plug-in.
Jasmin
Jasper
javad
Sun javap	Part of JDK (Java Development Kit).
Javel	generates C++
Kimera online Disassembler	no longer available.
JCD	JCD (Java Class Dissassembler)
JReversePro	Opensource.
Macho	no longer supported.

Java Disassemblers

Program

Notes

ClassCracker

written in pure Java.

D-Java

Defunct. by Shawn Silverman, has trouble with long filenames, uses DOS/DPMI, written in C.

Dis

written in C

JadEclipse

Opensource Eclipse plug-in.

Jasmin

Jasper

javad

Sun javap

Part of JDK (Java Development Kit).

Javel

generates C++

Kimera online Disassembler

no longer available.

JCD

JCD (Java Class Dissassembler)

JReversePro

Opensource.

Macho

no longer supported.

Disassembling exe files

JVM

JNI

Java Native Interface

BIOS

Basic Input Output System

32-bit

16-bit

32-bit

Portable Executable

Disassemblers for Microsoft Windows and DOS (Disk Operating System) exe files
Windows/DOS Disassemblers
BIEW	a multiplatform portable viewer of binary files with built-in editor in binary, hexadecimal and disassembler modes. It uses native Intel syntax for disassemble. Highlight AVR/Java/Athlon64/Pentium 4/K7-Athlon disassembler, russian codepages convertor, full preview of formats - MZ, NE, PE, NLM, coff32, elf partial - a.out, LE, LX, PharLap; code navigator. A sourceforge project.
Anywhere PE Viewer	not a full disassembler. It just extracts information from the header of exe and exe files. Written in Java. It is free.
somewhat out of date
IDA Pro	debugger and disassembler. Specially designed for hostile code analysis — code containing worms and viruses. It can also disassemble bioses. Even the free version supports scripts. The free version runs in a DOS box. The big restriction of the free version is you cannot save the asm dissassembly. You can only view. The Pro version is a Windows GUI (Graphic User Interface). The Pro Version costs while the advanced version is .
PE Explorer	32-bit only. It costs for a personal licence. The Resource Tuner subcomponent can be bought separately to let novices do things like change the text in resources, change icons etc. It costs for a personal licence.
VCOM Sourcer 8 Commenting Disassembler	I cut my teeth on disassembling with an early version of this program for DOS. You can also buy the package in pieces separately if you don’t need all of it. It contains Bioser which helps you decompile bioses into commented listings better that the orginal programmer’s source. It was invaluable in the days when BIOS es were crucial and full of bugs Handles DOS, Windows-16 and Windows-32-bit exes, DLL (Dynamic Link Library) s, device drivers, VxDs and even OS/2 files. .

Windows/DOS Disassemblers

Program

Notes

BIEW

a multiplatform portable viewer of binary files with built-in editor in binary, hexadecimal and disassembler modes. It uses native Intel syntax for disassemble. Highlight AVR/Java/Athlon64/Pentium 4/K7-Athlon disassembler, russian codepages convertor, full preview of formats - MZ, NE, PE, NLM, coff32, elf partial - a.out, LE, LX, PharLap; code navigator. A sourceforge project.

Anywhere PE Viewer

not a full disassembler. It just extracts information from the header of exe and exe files. Written in Java. It is free.

somewhat out of date

IDA Pro

debugger and disassembler. Specially designed for hostile code analysis — code containing worms and viruses. It can also disassemble bioses. Even the free version supports scripts. The free version runs in a DOS box. The big restriction of the free version is you cannot save the asm dissassembly. You can only view. The Pro version is a Windows GUI (Graphic User Interface). The Pro Version costs

while the advanced version is

PE Explorer

32-bit only. It costs

for a personal licence. The Resource Tuner subcomponent can be bought separately to let novices do things like change the text in resources, change icons etc. It costs

for a personal licence.

VCOM Sourcer 8 Commenting Disassembler

I cut my teeth on disassembling with an early version of this program for DOS. You can also buy the package in pieces separately if you don’t need all of it. It contains Bioser which helps you decompile bioses into commented listings better that the orginal programmer’s source. It was invaluable in the days when BIOS es were crucial and full of bugs Handles DOS, Windows-16 and Windows-32-bit exes, DLL (Dynamic Link Library) s, device drivers, VxDs and even OS/2 files.

Difficulty

JVM

Intel architecture does not cleanly separate code from data. A decompiler which looks at the RAM (Random Access Memory) image without running it, has to guess which is which.

There is no optimisation of byte code. Thus it decompiles back into reasonably comprehensible Java.

The JVM and Java are designed for each other. This means there is an almost a one-for-one translation between Java and the JVM. Intel Architecture was not designed for any high level language; it was designed for the assembler programmer.

Byte code contains far more information than an EXE file. It has symbol names and types. The boundaries between methods are clearly demarked. It more like a *.OBJ file. There are thus many more clues useful for decompilation. *.EXE files are largely stripped of any symbol names, type information and method boundary information.

If you play with a machine code disassembler, I think the problems will come clearer.

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on local hard disk J:

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Contact Roedy. Please feel free to link to this page without explicit permission.

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