library

When speaking of computers, refers to a collection of routines that perform operations which are commonly required by programs. Libraries may be shared, meaning that the library routines reside in a file separate from the programs that use them. Library routines may also be "statically linked" to a program, meaning that copies of the library routines required by that program are physically added to the program. Such statically linked binaries do not require the existence of any library files in order to execute. Programs linked against shared libraries will not execute unless the required libraries have been installed.