Document library types in the intro(3) manual page

Add a paragraph about library types to the intro(3)
manual page. Document library types, locations
and versioning.

Reviewed by:	emaste, jilles, mhorne, pauamma_gundo.com
Obtained from:	OpenBSD (partial)
MFC after:	3 weeks
Differential Revision:	https://reviews.freebsd.org/D36594
This commit is contained in:
Gordon Bergling 2023-11-16 10:48:09 +01:00
parent 55141f2c89
commit 54611b7cc6

View File

@ -26,8 +26,7 @@
.\" SUCH DAMAGE.
.\"
.\" @(#)intro.3 8.1 (Berkeley) 6/5/93
.\"
.Dd November 7, 2022
.Dd November 16, 2023
.Dt INTRO 3
.Os
.Sh NAME
@ -278,13 +277,105 @@ the math library
.It Pa /usr/lib/libm_p.a
the math library compiled for profiling
.El
.Sh LIBRARY TYPES
The system libraries are located in
.Pa /lib
and
.Pa /usr/lib .
A library has the following naming convention:
.Bd -unfilled -offset indent
libc.so.7
.Ed
.Pp
Libraries with an
.Sq .a
suffix are static.
When a program is linked against a static library, all necessary library code
will be included in the binary.
This means the binary can be run even when the libraries are unavailable.
However, it can be inefficient with both disk space and memory usage
during execution.
The C compiler,
.Xr cc 1 ,
can be instructed to link statically by specifying the
.Fl static
flag.
.Pp
Libraries with a
.Sq .so.X
suffix are dynamic libraries.
When code is linked dynamically, the library code that the application needs
is not included in the binary.
Instead, data structures are added containing information about which dynamic
libraries to link with.
When the binary is executed, the run-time linker
.Xr ld.so 1
reads these data structures and loads them into the
process virtual address space.
.Xr rtld 1
loads the shared libraries when the program is executed.
.Pp
.Sq X
represents the library version number of the library.
In the example above, a binary linked with
.Pa libc.so.8
would not be usable on a system where only
.Pa libc.so.7
is available.
.Pp
The advantages of dynamic libraries are that multiple instances of the same
library can share address space, and the physical size of the binary is
smaller.
A namespace per shared library is available via hidden visibility,
allowing multiple compilation units in a library to share things without
making them available to other libraries.
It is possible to load libraries dynamically via
.Xr dlopen 3 .
The disadvantage is the added complexity that comes with loading the
libraries dynamically, and the extra time taken to load the libraries.
Of course, if the libraries are not available, the binary will be unable
to execute.
Calls across shared libraries are also slightly slower and cannot be
inlined, not even with link time optimization.
The C compiler,
.Xr cc 1 ,
can be instructed to link dynamically by specifying the
.Fl shared
flag.
.Pp
Shared libraries, as well as static libraries on architectures which produce
position-independent executables
.Pq PIEs
by default, contain position-independent code
.Pq PIC .
Normally, compilers produce relocatable code.
Relocatable code needs to be modified at run-time, depending on where in
memory it is to be run.
The C compiler,
.Xr cc 1 ,
can be instructed to generate PIC code by specifying the
.Fl fPIC
flag.
.Pp
Static libraries are generated using the
.Xr ar 1
utility.
The libraries contain an index to the contents of the library,
stored within the library itself.
The index lists each symbol defined by a member of a library that is a
relocatable object file.
This speeds up linking to the library, and allows routines in the library
to call each other regardless of their placement within the library.
.Sh SEE ALSO
.Xr ar 1 ,
.Xr cc 1 ,
.Xr ld 1 ,
.Xr nm 1 ,
.Xr intro 2 ,
.Xr math 3 ,
.Xr stdio 3
.Xr stdio 3 ,
.Xr make.conf 5 ,
.Xr src.conf 5
.Sh HISTORY
An
.Nm