Dynamic-Link Libraries
A DLL is a binary file that serves as a shared library of routines that can be dynamically loaded and unloaded at runtime by applications that use the routines. Runtime libraries and class libraries for language products such as Visual C++ and Delphi can take the form of DLLs. The user mode portion of the Win32 API is ensconced in DLLs such as Kernel32.DLL and User32.DLL. One advantage of a DLL over a static library is that multiple applications can share a single DLL. Windows ensures that only one copy of a DLL's code is mapped into memory regardless of the number of applications that reference it.
DLLs make the functions they contain visible to the outside world by exporting them. A DLL's export table can be viewed using ...
Get Guru's Guide to SQL Server Architecture and Internals, The now with the O’Reilly learning platform.
O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.
