title: gdb : what is a symbol-file used for debugging
body: <p>I am badly confused with files generated during compilation and used for debugging. </p>
  
  <p>I know there two ways to store debugging info when compiling a code. One is to store the info in a separate file other than the executable (or object file) normally with a .sym extention) </p>
  
  <p>1- I do not know what is the other method. (and which one is more common to use)</p>
  
  <p>2- what is a symbol file in the first place? (a little more detailed than it keeps debugging info)</p>
  
  <p>3- if we are given a huge source code with its makefiles, how can we figure out which method is used when we do "make install"</p>
  
  <p>I have seen this <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/9919911/what-is-debug-info">thread</a> but I got even more confused !</p>