In our discussion so far, it has been necessary for the entire program and all data of a process to be in physical memory for the process to execute. The size of a process has thus been limited to the size of physical memory. To obtain better memory-space utilization, we can use dynamic loading. With dynamic loading, a routine is not loaded until it is called. All routines are kept on disk in a relocatable load format.
The main program is loaded into memory and is executed. When a routine needs to call another routine, the calling routine first checks to see whether the other routine has been loaded. If it has not, the relocatable linking loader is called to load the desired routine into memory and to update the program's address tables to reflect this change. Then control is passed to the newly loaded routine.
The advantage of dynamic loading is that a routine is loaded only when it is needed. This method is particularly useful when large amounts of code are needed to handle infrequently occurring cases, such as error routines. In such a situation, although the total program size may be large, the portion that is used (and hence loaded) may be much smaller.
Dynamic loading does not require special support from the operating system. It is the responsibility of the users to design their programs to take advantage of such a method. Operating systems may help the programmer, however, by providing library routines to implement dynamic loading.
Dynamically linked libraries (DLLs) are system libraries that are linked to user programs when the programs are run (refer to Figure 9.3). Some operating systems support only static linking, in which system libraries are treated like any other object module and are combined by the loader into the binary program image. Dynamic linking, in contrast, is similar to dynamic loading. Here, though, linking, rather than loading, is postponed until execution time.
This feature is usually used with system libraries, such as the standard C language library. Without this facility, each program on a system must include a copy of its language library (or at least the routines referenced by the program) in the executable image. This requirement not only increases the size of an executable image but also may waste main memory. A second advantage of DLLs is that these libraries can be shared among multiple processes, so that only one instance of the DLL in main memory. For this reason, DLLs are also known as shared libraries, and are used extensively in Windows and Linux systems.
When a program references a routine that is in a dynamic library, the loader locates the DLL, loading it into memory if necessary. It then adjusts addresses that reference functions in the dynamic library to the location in memory where the DLL is stored.
Dynamically linked libraries can be extended to library updates (such as bug fixes). In addition, a library may be replaced by a new version, and all programs that reference the library will automatically use the new version. Without dynamic linking, all such programs would need to be relinked to gain access to the new library. So that programs will not accidentally execute new, incompatible versions of libraries, version information is included in both the program and the library.
More than one version of a library may be loaded into memory, and each program uses its version information to decide which copy of the library to use. Versions with minor changes retain the same version number, whereas versions with major changes increment the number. Thus, only programs that are compiled with the new library version are affected by any incompatible changes incorporated in it. Other programs linked before the new library was installed will continue using the older library.
Unlike dynamic loading, dynamic linking and shared libraries generally require help from the operating system. If the processes in memory are protected from one another, then the operating system is the only entity that can check to see whether the needed routine is in another process's memory space or that can allow multiple processes to access the same memory addresses.
To learn more about dynamic program loading and how DLLs can be shared by multiple processes see chapter 9 in The tenth edition of Operating System Concepts.
About the Authors
Abraham Silberschatz is the Sidney J. Weinberg Professor of Computer Science at Yale University. Prior to joining Yale, he was the Vice President of the Information Sciences Research Center at Bell Laboratories. Prior to that, he held a chaired professorship in the Department of Computer Sciences at the University of Texas at Austin.
Professor Silberschatz is a Fellow of the Association of Computing Machinery (ACM), a Fellow of Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE), a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), and a member of the Connecticut Academy of Science and Engineering.
Greg Gagne is chair of the Computer Science department at Westminster College in Salt Lake City where he has been teaching since 1990. In addition to teaching operating systems, he also teaches computer networks, parallel programming, and software engineering.
The tenth edition of
Operating System Concepts
has been revised to keep it fresh and up-to-date with contemporary examples of how operating
systems function, as well as enhanced interactive elements to improve learning and the student's
experience with the material. It combines instruction on concepts with real-world applications
so that students can understand the practical usage of the content. End-of-chapter problems,
exercises, review questions, and programming exercises help to further reinforce important
concepts. New interactive self-assessment problems are provided throughout the text to help
students monitor their level of understanding and progress. A Linux virtual machine (including
C and Java source code and development tools) allows students to complete programming exercises
that help them engage further with the material.
A reader in the U.S. says, "This is what computer-related books should be like. It is thorough, in depth, information packed, authoritative, and exhaustive. You cannot get this kind of excellent information from the Internet - or many other computer books these days. It's a shame that quality computer books are declining so rapidly in number. I hope they continue to update and publish this book for many years to come.
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