how to read the header block gcc compiler put to .o .a and an executable

Question

I'd like to read the header block gcc put to the beginning of all .o .a and executables. In those days, on Solaris, there was an utility for this purpose. On linux, is similar utility available?

Answer 1

Yes. objdump can read an ELF file (be it an executable or a shared object/archive). Other then that, nm and readelf can too, but there are less useful, IMO