two dll's - why is that?

[Alex]

well i wonder why there is a dll (and lib) for vc++ and one for dev-cpp (mingw)? i thought that dll and library files follow some standards - opengl for instance only has one opengl32.dll for all (dunno about the libs here)

[Luke923]

The DLL is for run-time, while the LIB is for compile-time - at least as far as I understand it. I don't know about Dev-C++, though.

Hope that helps.

[Guest]

mhh i knew that, but what i asked myself is: why can't i use the SAME lib for mingw and vc++ and why can't i use the SAME dll for exe's compiled with vc and mingw? and maybe someone can answer me the question: where is the difference between em?

[Tyn]

They are linked from the program to the DLL differently depending on the compiler. LIB's are only used in VC++ ( haven't used BCB, the might do it as well ) and the actual DLL's created are differnent. I can't read binary code to be able to tell you the differences but I doubt you care in that much detail anyway

[Guest]

and the actual DLL's created are differnent.

so why is it possible to only have one opengl32.dll?

[Electron]

Dev-cpp seems to "prefer" the .a static libraries, but it can use .lib. Many dll's and lib's work with both Mingw and VC++ (Newton Game Dynamics and Audiere are two that I use) so this is a valid question. Why did niko need to make two different dll's? If MingW could use an IrrLicht dll compiled by VC++ it would be easier for us Dev-cpp people to have DirectX without needing a couple extra dll's.

[Guest]

I can't read binary code to be able to tell you the differences but I doubt you care in that much detail anyway

maybe not inTHAT much detail (even if i played around with .exe files + hex editor sometimes) though i'm pretty much interested on how stuff works at low level
even if no one can explain what the difference actually is but maybe got some links concerning that topic? (libraries, dlls / dynamic shared objects, (runtime) linker ..)

[Tyn]

Google them and you will more than likely find some info.