Difference between nm and objdump

Question

Looking at the manuals, objdump and nm have overlapping features.

When would you use each one? What was the original purpose of each command?

Answer 1

They have no similar parameters. nm lists file symbols, while objdump can show a lot of different information about files. objdump can shows symbols too, and it is explicitly noted in the manpage that "This is similar to the information provided by the nm program, although the display format is different."