---
title: "What is the difference between an EXE and a DLL?"  
description: "What is the difference between an EXE and a DLL?"  
author: "Sanjay Goenka"  
published: 2022-04-06  
canonical: https://answers.mindstick.com/qa/96764/what-is-the-difference-between-an-exe-and-a-dll  
category: "troubleshooting"  
tags: ["troubleshooting", "software engineering", "software"]  
reading_time: 1 minute  

---

# What is the difference between an EXE and a DLL?

What is the [difference](https://www.mindstick.com/blog/398/difference-between-object-type-and-var-type) between an [EXE](https://answers.mindstick.com/qa/31267/what-is-exe-file) and a [DLL](https://www.mindstick.com/forum/34704/dll-dynamic-link-library-in-c-sharp)?

## Answers

### Answer by Hitesh Vohra

- A **DLL** is a Dynamic Link Library that can't run on its own and is used to support other programmes.
- Because the library functions are dynamically linked to the application at run time, the term is Dll.
- A Dll can't run on its own since it lacks an entry point (main function).
- **EXE -**An Exe file is an executable file that is not a supporting file but rather an application in and of itself.
- An Exe will have an entry point (main function) and will execute on its own.

\

**Read More: [Explain the term Baseline.](https://answers.mindstick.com/qa/96771/explain-the-term-baseline)**


---

Original Source: https://answers.mindstick.com/qa/96764/what-is-the-difference-between-an-exe-and-a-dll

Copyright © MindStick Software Pvt. Ltd. This Markdown version is provided for developers, AI systems, and offline reading.