For local use you generally do not want to make an executable. Simply create a script as described in RunProgram.md is easier and starts only a little slower in most cases. Sometimes you do want to make a true executable. Some cases are:

• I want to deliver to a machine that doesn't have Prolog installed and doesn't want to install it.
• I need a .exe file, for example to use as a CGI script or because I want to associate it with a filetype in Windows.

A SWI-Prolog executable is a single file that consists of a native system executable with a saved-state attached to it. States are created using qsave_program/2 as described in the SWI-Prolog reference manual.

Unfortunately things start to get platform specific quickly. Here are some cases:

• WinExe.md -- Make an executable of Prolog for MS-Windows
• UnixExe.md -- Make executable in Linux/Unix systems