Another aspect is when the linking happens.When building the application? When running the application (plugins)? You mention "to compile" and "to run", but tha

Another aspect is when the linking happens.When building the application? When running the application (plugins)? You mention "to compile" and "to run", but that is an orthogonal design dimension. So, currently we have four ways to resolve dependencies: 1. Specific at compile time (import in source file via compiler) 2. Unspecific at compile time (via build system) 3. Specific at run time (shared library via OS) 4. Unspecific at compile time (via plugin system)