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The title basically says it all. It might be a dumb question (which probably is) because I am entirely new to programming. I wonder how the desktop apps we use are made of mostly .dll files when you check their program files, but not even a single source code file? Is there any way to open them, or how can I turn my code file into .dll?

briancodes
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Thats exactly what DLL files are. DLL files are libraries which contain code that is called by the 'main' source code, which is compiled into '.exe' files. You not being able to see such code is intended by its owner, unless the source itself is released alongside the compiled software. A project may integrate .dll files already developed by someone else instead of developing them from scratch.

As to how to turn your code into a .dll, it would depend on the language you are developing in.

More detailed answers at: What exactly are DLL files, and how do they work?

Bernardo
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Short answer: The DLL files are "compiled".

Compiled files no longer rely on their source code. Once compiled they can be executed by the operating system directly.

DLL files are not "scripts". In languages like HTML, Javascript and PHP, the files are interpreted at run time by the browser's HTML or Java engine or the PHP engine on a server. Thus you can also read them since they are not yet compiled. But in the case of a DLL file, the original source code files have been compiled (interpreted and converted) and the result is an executable Library which is used by another program to accomplish whatever tasks are in them.

It is possible to "decompile" them with a decompiler, but that will not give you the original source code, any more than a "jpg" will give you the original layered Photoshop file. All you have is the Result.

TheSatinKnight
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  • The operating system doesn't execute compiled code. It loads it into memory, sets up the instruction pointer, and then the famous CPU "fetch-decode-execute" cycle kicks in (actually, the OS code itself runs through the CPU "fetch-decode-execute" also) – Ben Voigt Sep 07 '21 at 20:59