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What do 'statically linked' and 'dynamically linked' mean?

I know here lot of similiar questions (for instance first or second or third one) But in no one I found full answer of my question. Please explain me the main differences and when I have to use which type of library?

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Mihran Hovsepyan
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    http://stackoverflow.com/questions/311882/what-do-statically-linked-and-dynamically-linked-mean – Cat Plus Plus Mar 23 '11 at 22:14
  • For second part of your question, please read this question: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/140061/when-to-use-dynamic-vs-static-libraries – vinayvasyani Mar 23 '11 at 22:11

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A static library is meant to be combined with your code into a single executable file by a linker.

A dynamic library is meant to be loaded by the operating system after the main executable has been loaded, and the linking of the symbol addresses will be done by the OS at that time. This may be done automatically based on dependency information in the executable, or it may be done explicitly by the program. This is called "dynamic linking" because the library may change at any point before the OS has loaded it.

Mark Ransom
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