What Is a Windows Dynamic Link Library?
A dynamic link library (DLL) is a library of functions and procedures that can be called from an application or another DLL. Using a library in this way has two major functions: • It permits the sharing of code. The same DLL can be used by many other DLLs and applications. The Win32 API, for instance, is implemented as a series of Windows DLLs. Moreover, as long as multiple processes load the same DLL at the same base address, they can share the code in the DLL. In other words, a single DLL in memory can be accessed by multiple processes. • It allows for component-based and modular development, which makes development and the upgrade process easier. Ordinarily, when a static library is used in application development, the library’s modules must be linked into the finished application. With dynamic linking, the modules reside in a separate DLL file that is loaded dynamically, either when the application loads or when its member functions are needed. A dynamic link library may include in
