Microsoft Windows 2000 API SuperBible

Loadtime Dynamic Linking

An application employs loadtime dynamic linking by specifying the names of the DLL procedures directly in the source code. The linker inserts references to these procedures when it locates them in an import library linked with the application or by using the IMPORTS section of the module definition file for the application. When the application is executed, the Windows loader loads the DLLs into memory and resolves these references.

This is the easiest form of dynamic linking, but it can cause problems under special circumstances. For example, if an application references a DLL procedure in this manner, the DLL must exist when the application is executed, even if the application never actually calls that procedure. Also, ...