Overview

Windows executable files come in two flavors: programs (EXEs) and dynamic link libraries (DLLs). When you write a Delphi application, you typically generate a program file. However, Delphi applications often use calls to functions stored in dynamic libraries. Each time you call a Windows API function directly, you actually access a dynamic library. It is easy to generate a DLL in the Delphi environment. However, some problems can arise due to the nature of DLLs. Writing a dynamic library in Windows is not always as simple as it seems, because the dynamic library and the calling program need to agree on calling conventions, parameter types, and other details. This chapter covers the basics of DLL programming from the Delphi point of view.

The second part of the chapter will focus on a specific type of dynamic link library: the Delphi package. Packages in Delphi provide a good alternative to plain DLLs, although not so many Delphi programmers take advantage of them outside the realm of component writing. Here I'll share with you some tips and techniques for using packages to partition a large application.