Microsoft Windows library files: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 21:18, 13 April 2025

Revision as of 22:56, 20 July 2025

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The [[Microsoft Windows]] [[operating system]] and [[Microsoft Windows SDK]] support a collection of [[shared libraries]] that [[software]] can use to access the [[Windows API]]. This article provides an overview of the core libraries that are included with every modern Windows [[Installation (computer programs)|installation]], on top of which most Windows [[Application software|applications]] are built.

== Library Sourcessources ==

The Windows operating system contains [[Compiler|compiled]] versions of these libraries known as [[dynamic-link libraries|dynamically-linked libraries]] ([[.dll]]), which are [[Portable Executable|executable]] libraries that can be used by multiple [[Computer program|programs]] while only one copy of the library is loaded into [[computer memory|memory]]. These are canonically referred to as [[system libraries]] and all programs installed on the system can utilize them.