On this page you will find a few frequently asked computer questions .

FAQ: What is a DLL file?

Many times when applying fixes or patches to your computer, or when getting an error you will be faced with the name of a file that ends with "DLL". From a programmers point of view, there are actually 2 types of DLL files on your Windows Operating system. However, both serve basically the same function. DLL files contain executable code just like a EXE file does. However, they can not execute by themselves. They require a EXE to "call" them. They are basically libraries of functions, services, or features. They provide re-usable programming code so that programmers can reduce the amount of time it takes to develop applications by placing things they would like to re-use in another application in a DLL file. There are a few other benefits to DLL files, such as the ease of applying updates (because we don't have to update the WHOLE application - just the affected DLL), and having large programs in many small files makes it easier to distribute. Other Operating Systems have their equivalent to these code "libraries", they just may not end with a "DLL" extension.