How to recover source code from its executable file?

Question

I lost my source code file code.c on my Linux virtual machine. It is a code I wrote some months ago, and I need to open and read it now.

But I cannot find it anymore. All I have is the executable file c after compile it using GCC like this.

$ gcc -o c code.c

So how can I get the code.c from its executable? I tried to search on Google to solve it, but unfortunately all answers were “impossible to get it”.

A suggestion: turn on hidden files in your file-manager, if you are lucky you can find something similar to .code.c, some editors e.g. `gedit` performs backups of the source code. — David Ranieri, May 14 '16 at 17:47
The translation from c source to executable code is one directional. Like people mentioned, your efforts are better spent looking for a backup, and hoping the file-system didn't overwrite it yet. — StoryTeller - Unslander Monica, May 14 '16 at 18:54
It is impossible to get it. Rewrite it from scratch, it's easier. — Martin James, May 14 '16 at 19:29

score 1 · Answer 1 · answered May 14 '16 at 18:59

Tracing out the source code from executables is a tough task and requires a lot of effort. It can be done through decompilers like hex-rays, but even such softwares fail to decompile the executables to its original source code.

You should consider recovering your data instead of decompiling.

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered May 14 '16 at 18:38

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I once deleted my workspace by mistake with the rm linux command. The only way for me to recover the files was restoring software.

I guess you are using linux too because of the linux tag. The one I used was Test Disk, there are several manuals on how to use it, it's not difficult.

The only thing to take into account is that the more memory you use, more likely will be to overwrite your missing file. Good luck!

answered May 14 '16 at 18:38

UDKOX

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I once simply run this: 'gcc -c source.c' and 'gcc a.out -o source.c' instead od 'source.exe' :D – Michał Mielec May 14 '16 at 18:49

How to recover source code from its executable file?

2 Answers2