include directories vs. lib directory concept question

Question

What is the difference between linking to include files versus linking to lib files?

I am fairly new to C/C++ and I\'m having a hard time figuring out the difference be

Answer 1

to provide a simpler answer:

.lib files are precompiled libraries. if you include a .lib, you also need to include the .h/hpp header files, so your compiler knows how to access the functions in the .lib.

when you compile your program, all the functions used from the lib are only linked, they are note compiled again.