File Extension DLL Overview
DLL stands for Dynamic Link Library and is a file format created by Microsoft to get the concept of a shared library into full force in Microsoft Windows or the OS2 operating system. These files can also have the extensions OCX and DRV depending on the kind of files that they store. OCX is for files that contain ActiveX controls and DRV for system drivers. The DLL file format is composed in the exactly same way as the EXE file formats of Windows. The three major components of the DLL file format are code, data and resources which can be preset in any form and in any combination. What the DLL file format allows you to do is that it lets two programs using the same code run at the same time without the code being included in both the programs. This is what used to happen in earlier versions of Microsoft Windows. Here, the common or the shared code can be saved in a single file and can be accessed easily at the time of need when both the files using it get linked.
The great thing about a DLL file is that the code that is used by a number of files can be stored singly in a single unit of memory and does not need to be stored separately for each file that uses the DLL code. However, the exactly opposite thing happens in data sections. Each data section has its own private space. This is what makes the DLL file format extremely useful and handy. For linking files in the DLL format you have to import libraries. This can be done using C++ or Visual Basic or even Delphi and C. after the linking is done then you can use it to save space and perform more efficiently.
You can find more information about file extension DLL and file extension SYS on our websites.