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Dynamic linking is an artifact of C, not some sort of universal programming truth.
by howinteresting 4y ago
Dynamic linking is an artifact of C, not some sort of universal programming truth.
- wahern 4y agoDynamic linking originated with Multics (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multics https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multics) and MTS (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MTS_system_architecture https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MTS_system_architecture), years before C even existed. Unix didn't get dynamic linking until the 1980s (https://www.cs.cornell.edu/courses/cs414/2001FA/sharedlib.pdf https://www.cs.cornell.edu/courses/cs414/2001FA/sharedlib.pd...). The impetus for dynamic linking on Multics and MTS was the ability to upgrade libraries without having to recompile software, and to reuse code not originally designed or intended for (e.g. different compilers or languages), let alone compiled with, the primary program. Both of these reasons still pertain, notwithstanding that some alternatives are more viable (e.g. open source code means less reliance on binary distribution).
- preseinger 4y agoneither of those reasons still pertain, really "the primary program" is the atomic unit of change, it is expected that each program behaves in a way that is independent of whatever other files may exist on a host system