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 ...
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