Definition
Plain language
A widely-used decompiler that turns compiled binaries into human-readable code.
As stated in the literature
A commercial decompiler integrated with IDA Pro that lifts machine code into pseudo-C, used in reverse engineering and vulnerability research.
Why it matters: It's foundational for security research and reverse engineering, and AI tooling that targets binaries usually has to interoperate with its output.
For example, given a stripped Windows binary, Hex-Rays can turn its assembly back into pseudo-C that a human reverser can actually read.
Heard on the show
“… It wraps IDA Pro and Hex-Rays — the industry-standard reverse-engineering toolkit — and exposes things like "decompile this function," …”Episode 024 — An AI Agent That Found 28 Zero-Days in Windows — And What Made It Work