Apologies if this is a noob question, but I didn't see it in the forum anywhere nor in the docs(though I'm sure I could have overlooked it).

Various code examples differ in using sections for data,code,import, etc., and not using them.

On a simple program that just displays a window, using sections to separate data,code, and imports made the the executable about 2KB in size. Removing the section areas and using data import ... end data, etc., reduced the file size down to 1.5KB.

In the grand scheme of things, I'm sure this minor reduction isn't worth jack squat, but I was curious as to the whys and wherefors and if there was any actual benefit to using sections.

Thanks!

sections have different attributes

as a result specific behaviour of system on each section.
Basically they're used to divide different types of data & code. They also may prevent from obvious errors such as writing to read-only section of data or code.

Ah! A professor once said in class that most systems implemented something to prevent code pages in memory to be written to. Is this actually what he meant, or is there yet another part of the hardware that can tell the difference?

Also, thanks.

Have a look at this Data Execution Prevention
NX bit