# Creating Fortran Executables

The simplest way to build an application is to compile all of your Fortran source files, then link the resulting object files into a single executable. You can build single-file executables using the ifort command. You can also use the Visual Studio* IDE on Windows*.

The executable file you build with this method contains all of the code needed to execute the program, including the run-time library. Because the program resides in a single file, it is easy to copy or install. The project contains all of the source and object files for the routines used to build the application. To use these routines in other projects, all source and object files must be relinked.

Exceptions to this are as follows:

- If you are using shared libraries, all code will not be contained in the executable file.

- On macOS, the object files contain debug information and would need to be copied along with the executable.

Parent topic: Compilation