As mentioned in Chapter 6 ELF overview and background, an executable module might have two symbol tables, a static symbol table and dynamic symbol table. The static symbol table is generated by the static linker from the symbol tables of the input object files. It is not used by a dynamic linker and is normally removed from the ELF in release modules.The dynamic symbol table is used by the dynamic linker to identify the symbols defined and referenced in a module. The dynamic symbol table is also created by the static linker. How the static linker populates the dynamic symbol table is toolchain and platform specific.Static linkers normally use a fixed method, or alternatively allow the user to select how to populate the dynamic symbol table, giving them full control. The latter approach requires the user to specify which symbols must be present in the dynamic symbol table. This is normally achieved using a textual input file to the linker.Another method, probably the most common, is to populate the dynamic symbol table based on the symbol visibility in the static symbol table. Symbols with STV_DEFAULT or STV_PROTECTED visibility are automatically added to the dynamic symbol table. Symbols with STV_HIDDEN or STV_INTERNAL visibility are not normally added to the dynamic symbol table.