Re: GNAT Executables: How low can you go?

[mjp@itd.dsto.gov.au]

ok@goanna.cs.rmit.edu.au (Richard A. O'Keefe) writes:

>4.  Run time.
>    The DLL will be loaded only once no matter how many applications are
>    using it (UNIX "shared" libraries), and may, depending on the operating
>    system, be kept around for a little while after the last application
>    using it has quit so that it doesn't need reloading (like the old UNIX
>    "save text" bit).

Also remember that although the DLL may be 120K, a decent
operating system will only load those pages actually needed by your
program (and other programs sharing the library) into paged
real memory.

My complaint about DLLs, is the poor way they are installed by
most off the shelf products. E.g. Microsoft office. It asks
where you want to put Microsoft office and I say my extra
drive D:, I niavely assume thats where it put it. But it put
the DLL on my boot E: drive, so when I come along to install a
new rev of the os, Easiest by reformating the e: drive it will
break M$ office. I discovered this "feature" when I had a disc
corruption on my boot drive and had to reinstall the OS.

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Dr Michael Pilling                         Phone: +61 8 259 7017
DSTO ITD/SE 171 Labs                       Fax: +61 8 259 5589
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