Do I need static libraries to statically link?

Question

On \'C\', Linux,

Do I need static libraries to statically link, or the shared ones I have suffice? If not, why not? (Don\'t they contain the same data?)

Answer 1

There is no such thing as static compilation, only static linking. And for that, you need static libraries. The difference between static and dynamic linking is that with the former, names are resolved at link-time (just after compile-time), wheras with the latter, they are resolved just as the program starts running.

Static and dynamic libraries may or may not contain the same information, depending on lots of factors. The decision on whether to statically or dynamically link your code is an important one, and will often influence application architecture.