---
name: "end"
section: "3"
platform: "linux"
package: "man-pages"
version: "6.19-1"
release: "Arch Linux 2026-11-01"
platforms: ["linux", "freebsd"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/end/3"
---

# end(3)

end of program segments

## NAME

etext, edata, end - end of program segments

## SYNOPSIS

```
extern etext;
extern edata;
extern end;
```

## DESCRIPTION

The addresses of these symbols indicate the end of various program segments:

- *etext*

  This is the first address past the end of the text segment (the program code).

- *edata*

  This is the first address past the end of the initialized data segment.

- *end*

  This is the first address past the end of the uninitialized data segment (also known as the BSS segment).

## STANDARDS

None.

## HISTORY

Although these symbols have long been provided on most UNIX systems, they are not standardized; use with caution.

## NOTES

The program must explicitly declare these symbols; they are not defined in any header file.

On some systems the names of these symbols are preceded by underscores, thus: *\_etext*, *\_edata*, and *\_end*. These symbols are also defined for programs compiled on Linux.

At the start of program execution, the program break will be somewhere near *&end* (perhaps at the start of the following page). However, the break will change as memory is allocated via [**brk**(2)](/brk/2.md) or [**malloc**(3)](/malloc/3.md). Use [**sbrk**(2)](/sbrk/2.md) with an argument of zero to find the current value of the program break.

## EXAMPLES

When run, the program below produces output such as the following:

```
$ ./a.out
First address past:
    program text (etext)       0x8048568
    initialized data (edata)   0x804a01c
    uninitialized data (end)   0x804a024
```

### Program source

```
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
extern char etext, edata, end;  /* The symbols must have some type,
                                   or "gcc -Wall" complains */
int
main(void)
{
    printf("First address past:\n");
    printf("    program text (etext)      %10p\n", &etext);
    printf("    initialized data (edata)  %10p\n", &edata);
    printf("    uninitialized data (end)  %10p\n", &end);
    exit(EXIT_SUCCESS);
}
```

## SEE ALSO

[**objdump**(1)](/objdump/1.md), [**readelf**(1)](/readelf/1.md), [**sbrk**(2)](/sbrk/2.md), [**elf**(5)](/elf/5.md)