Use of ALIGN command in gnu linker script

Question

Why ALIGN(4) statement are used at the starting and the ending of each output sections in linker script?? Does it create some kind of spacing between each sections?

code

SECTIONS
{
  /* The startup code goes first into internal flash */
  .interrupts :
  {
    __VECTOR_TABLE = .;
    . = ALIGN(4);
    KEEP(*(.isr_vector))     /* Startup code */
    . = ALIGN(4);
  } > m_interrupts

  .flash_config :
  {
    . = ALIGN(4);
    KEEP(*(.FlashConfig))    /* Flash Configuration Field (FCF) */
    . = ALIGN(4);
  } > m_flash_config

  /* The program code and other data goes into internal flash */
  .text :
  {
    . = ALIGN(4);
    *(.text)                 /* .text sections (code) */
    *(.text*)                /* .text* sections (code) */
    *(.rodata)               /* .rodata sections (constants, strings, etc.) */
    *(.rodata*)              /* .rodata* sections (constants, strings, etc.) */
    *(.glue_7)               /* glue arm to thumb code */
    *(.glue_7t)              /* glue thumb to arm code */
    *(.eh_frame)
    KEEP (*(.init))
    KEEP (*(.fini))
    . = ALIGN(4);
  } > m_text

Answer 1

Disclaimer: I'm not a compiler or linker developer, this is just my impression and experience.

Memory accesses of 32-bit processors are a lot faster when done aligned, and some of these processors even can't access unaligned wide words. ARM is not that kind AFAIK.

However, the compiler presumes that the sections are properly aligned when it lays out its code and data, which will get linked finally. Therefore the linker script has to fulfill that presumption.