What kind of programming error is a linker error typically associated with?

A linker error is typically associated with dependency problems. Linker errors occur during the process of linking when the compiler has successfully compiled individual source files into object code, but the linker encounters issues when trying to combine these files into a complete executable program. This often stems from missing libraries, unresolved references to functions or variables, or duplicate symbols.

Understanding that linker errors relate to dependencies is crucial because they indicate that the necessary connections between various parts of the code (such as libraries or modules) are not correctly set up. For instance, if a function is declared in a header file but not defined in any of the object files being linked, the linker will throw an error due to this unresolved dependency.

Syntactical issues are usually highlighted during the compilation phase rather than linking. Memory allocation errors occur at runtime, indicating problems with resource management, while incorrect data types might lead to compilation errors but not necessarily to linker errors. Thus, dependency problems accurately define the nature of linker errors.