from
The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (8 July 2008)
run-time library
<operating system, programming, library> A file containing
routines which are linked with a program at {run time} rather
than at {compile-time}. The advantage of such {dynamic
linking} is that only one copy of the library needs to be
stored, rather than a copy being included with each
{executable} that refers to it. This can greatly reduce the
disk space occupied by programs. Furthermore, it means that
all programs immediately benefit from changes (e.g. {bug}
fixes) to the single copy of the library without requiring
recompilation. Since the library code is normally classified
as read-only to the {memory management} system, it is possible
for a single copy of the library to be loaded into memory and
shared by all active programs, thus reducing {RAM} and
{virtual memory} requirements and program load time.
(1997-07-16)