Shared libraries are libraries that are linked dynamically.
Shared libraries allow common OS code to be bundled into a wrapper and used by any application software on the system without loading multiple copies into memory. All the applications on the system can use it without using more memory.
See also Code Deployment - Shared library
A shared library is a file that is intended to be shared by executable files and further shared object files.
They are loaded into memory at load time or run time, rather than being copied by a linker during the creation of the executable file.
Shared Library are open file opened by a process.
| Operating System / Technology | Path Variable | File Extension | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| Linux (for Linux and Solaris) | LD_LIBRARY_PATH | so | myLibrary.so |
| Windows | PATH | dll (dynamically linked libraries) | myLibrary.dll |
| Java | Djava.library.path | See Native MEthod |