Shared / Dynamic Libraries

Shared or dynamic library – in Windows, DLL – binaries are files that allow multiple programs to use the same library of functions or resources without having to include them in each program’s executable file. This helps reduce memory usage and disk space, as well as making it easier to update libraries without recompiling all dependent programs. They are more complicated to use than static libraries, but are sometimes necessary for certain applications. For example, to use C, C++, Fortran, etc. binaries from Python, shared libraries are required to load the compiled code at runtime in Python. The shared library binary file extensions are typically .so on Linux, .dylib on macOS, and .dll on Windows.

2025

• 2025-09-27 – CMake / Meson force shared library

2024

• 2024-12-26 – Static linked executable
• 2024-12-23 – CMake / Meson run check DLL Hell
• 2024-02-19 – CMake TARGET_RUNTIME_DLL_DIRS for CTest

2023

• 2023-09-04 – List symbols in library / object file
• 2023-07-24 – Dynamic libraries and CMake
• 2023-03-27 – Matlab loadlibrary C interface
• 2023-03-23 – Windows shared library caveats

2022

• 2022-02-17 – CMake shared libraries on Visual Studio / oneAPI

2020

• 2020-02-13 – Benefits of CMake Object Libraries