<s>
A	O
static	B-Application
build	I-Application
is	O
a	O
compiled	B-Language
version	O
of	O
a	O
program	O
which	O
has	O
been	O
statically	O
linked	O
against	O
libraries	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
computer	B-General_Concept
science	I-General_Concept
,	O
linking	B-Application
means	O
taking	O
one	O
or	O
more	O
objects	B-Language
generated	O
by	O
compilers	B-Language
and	O
assembling	O
them	O
into	O
a	O
single	O
executable	B-Application
program	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
objects	B-Language
are	O
program	O
modules	O
containing	O
machine	B-Language
code	I-Language
and	O
symbol	O
definitions	O
,	O
which	O
come	O
in	O
two	O
varieties	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
linker	B-Application
program	O
then	O
resolves	O
references	O
to	O
undefined	O
symbols	O
by	O
finding	O
out	O
which	O
other	O
object	O
defines	O
a	O
symbol	O
in	O
question	O
,	O
and	O
replacing	O
placeholders	O
with	O
the	O
symbol	O
's	O
address	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Linkers	B-Application
can	O
take	O
objects	B-Language
from	O
a	O
collection	O
called	O
a	O
library	B-Library
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
final	O
program	O
does	O
not	O
include	O
the	O
whole	O
library	B-Library
,	O
only	O
those	O
objects	B-Language
from	O
it	O
that	O
are	O
needed	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Libraries	O
for	O
diverse	O
purposes	O
exist	O
,	O
and	O
one	O
or	O
more	O
system	B-Library
libraries	I-Library
are	O
usually	O
linked	O
in	O
by	O
default	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Modern	O
operating	B-General_Concept
system	I-General_Concept
environments	O
allow	O
dynamic	O
linking	B-Application
,	O
or	O
the	O
postponing	O
of	O
the	O
resolving	O
of	O
some	O
undefined	O
symbols	O
until	O
a	O
program	O
is	O
run	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
That	O
means	O
that	O
the	O
executable	B-Application
still	O
contains	O
undefined	O
symbols	O
,	O
plus	O
a	O
list	O
of	O
objects	B-Language
or	O
libraries	O
that	O
will	O
provide	O
definitions	O
for	O
these	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Loading	O
the	O
program	O
will	O
load	O
these	O
objects/libraries	O
as	O
well	O
,	O
and	O
perform	O
a	O
final	O
linking	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Dynamic	O
linking	B-Application
offers	O
three	O
advantages	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
Often-used	O
libraries	O
(	O
for	O
example	O
the	O
standard	O
system	B-Library
libraries	I-Library
)	O
need	O
to	O
be	O
stored	O
in	O
only	O
one	O
location	O
,	O
not	O
duplicated	O
in	O
every	O
single	O
binary	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
If	O
a	O
library	B-Library
is	O
upgraded	O
or	O
replaced	O
,	O
all	O
programs	O
using	O
it	O
dynamically	O
will	O
immediately	O
benefit	O
from	O
the	O
corrections	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Static	B-Application
builds	I-Application
would	O
have	O
to	O
be	O
re-linked	O
first	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
binary	B-Application
executable	I-Application
file	O
size	O
is	O
smaller	O
than	O
its	O
statically	O
linked	O
counterpart	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
a	O
statically	O
built	O
program	O
,	O
no	O
dynamic	O
linking	B-Application
occurs	O
:	O
all	O
the	O
bindings	O
have	O
been	O
done	O
at	O
compile	B-Application
time	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Static	B-Application
builds	I-Application
have	O
a	O
very	O
predictable	O
behavior	O
(	O
because	O
they	O
do	O
not	O
rely	O
on	O
the	O
particular	O
version	O
of	O
libraries	O
available	O
on	O
the	O
final	O
system	O
)	O
,	O
and	O
are	O
commonly	O
found	O
in	O
forensic	O
and	O
security	O
tools	O
to	O
avoid	O
possible	O
contamination	O
or	O
malfunction	O
due	O
to	O
broken	O
libraries	O
on	O
the	O
examined	O
machine	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
same	O
flexibility	O
that	O
permits	O
an	O
upgraded	O
library	B-Library
to	O
benefit	O
all	O
dynamically-linked	O
applications	O
can	O
also	O
prevent	O
applications	O
that	O
assume	O
the	O
presence	O
of	O
a	O
specific	O
version	O
of	O
a	O
particular	O
library	B-Library
from	O
running	O
correctly	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
If	O
every	O
application	O
on	O
a	O
system	O
must	O
have	O
its	O
own	O
copy	O
of	O
a	O
dynamic	O
library	B-Library
to	O
ensure	O
correct	O
operation	O
,	O
the	O
benefits	O
of	O
dynamic	O
linking	B-Application
are	O
moot	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Another	O
benefit	O
of	O
static	B-Application
builds	I-Application
is	O
their	O
portability	O
:	O
once	O
the	O
final	O
executable	B-Application
file	I-Application
has	O
been	O
compiled	B-Language
,	O
it	O
is	O
no	O
longer	O
necessary	O
to	O
keep	O
the	O
library	B-Library
files	O
that	O
the	O
program	O
references	O
,	O
since	O
all	O
the	O
relevant	O
parts	O
are	O
copied	O
into	O
the	O
executable	B-Application
file	I-Application
.	O
</s>
