DLL file

A DLL is not meant to be read per se; DLL stands for Dynamic Link Library, and contains collections of functions, shared code and resources (small bitmap images, for example, are stored for all programs to access in Windows' shell32.dll, resident in the OS system directory). Many DLLs also contain predefined methods of communicating and interfacing with the Operating System, which makes it more efficient from a coding standpoint to separate these (possibly large) chunks of code off into their own small container file, and then address the DLL file whenever that functionality is needed.

This does mean, however, that applications can develop 'dependencies' on files, meaning they must always be there in a location the program can see, so that it will function properly - this is also why programs can stop working properly or altogether if DLL files become corrupted, are modified or are deleted... And that's also why Microsoft comes with a small utility called, simply, "sfc" (System File Checker), which will go through all the Windows DLLs and other system files, checking for corruption and prompting for replacement or restoration if it finds problematic files.

I love to hate DLLs, they're the scourge of my computing life and have been since Windows 95 (though at least VxDs, or Virtual device Drivers / Virtual eXtended Drivers, have been eliminated from the computing landscape, those caused me no end of problems throughout Windows 95 and Windows 98's lifespan, and someone asked me a question about a problem involving VxDs on Windows 98 just yesterday too, so unfortunately these problems refuse to go away and leave us in peace!). That said, DLLs, if compiled correctly, are a useful source of shared code and other resources across applications. Lose the wrong one though, and, to form a rough analogy, it's like losing half of your limbs - more often than not it'll render your computer incapacitated until you perform surgery to repair the damage.

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