Dynamic libraries
Dynamic libraries, or shared libraries, are another way to produce libraries for reuse. As their name implies, unlike the static libraries, dynamic libraries are not part of the final executable itself. Instead, they should be loaded and brought in while loading a process for execution.
Since static libraries are part of the executable, the linker puts everything found in the given relocatable files into the final executable file. In other words, the linker detects the undefined symbols, and required definitions, and tries to find them in the given relocatable object files, then puts them all in the output executable file.
The final product is only produced when every undefined symbol is found. From a unique perspective, we detect all dependencies and resolve them at linking time. Regarding dynamic libraries, it is possible to have undefined symbols that are not resolved at linking time. These symbols are searched for when the executable product is about to...
