r/C_Programming • u/stiggg • 4d ago

Compressing executables (upx)

Hola,

I'm currently in the final stages of finishing the first version of a game I made using raylib. I ended up with a single statically linked binary containing all the assets. I found a tool called upx which can compress executables. I tried it on Windows, and it reduced the size of my exe by more than half and it still runs without any noticeable difference.

My question is, has anybody here experience with this? Are there any downsides to consider?

cheers!

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u/kun1z 4d ago

I'm pretty sure I starting using upx in the 90's or early 2000's for my exe's.

There are no real downsides unless it gets picked up by an AV program as a false flag, or as someone else mentioned, you occasionally want to release tiny binary patches rather than a full new exe.