DEV Community

Discussion on: What's the difference between a library and a framework?

Collapse
 
tux0r profile image
tux0r

I wish I had something to argue on this, but I don't. Generally, outside the interpreted language world, it is much easier:

  • Libraries are usually separate binary code parts which you can use by linking to them.
  • Frameworks are the source component of libraries, they are built into your application (which usually uses a lot of framework functionality to rectify that).

Examples:

  • My libvldmail is a library: All of its code is already there, you can just add it and you're done.
  • Crow is a framework: You can build an application on top of it.