Patent ID: 8683455

Claim:
A computer-implemented method, comprising: at a computer having memory and one or more processors: receiving one or more object code units associated with an executable program; identifying, among the one or more object code units, a first program entity and a first set of operations associated with the first program entity and a second program entity and a second set of operations associated with the second program entity, wherein each program entity has an object code segment and an associated address; updating the one or more object code units by causing the second set of operations to be associated with the first program entity if the first program entity's object code segment is identical to the second program entity's object code segment and no operation from the second set operates on the address of the second program entity, updating the one or more object code units further including: generating a first checksum using the first program entity's object code segment and a second checksum using the second program entity's object code segment and comparing the first checksum with the second checksum to determine whether the first program entity's object code segment is identical to the second program entity's object code segment; and combining the updated one or more object code units into the executable program.