How do I load shared libraries at runtime on Windows in C++?

In C++, loading shared libraries at runtime on Windows can be achieved using the Windows API functions such as LoadLibrary and GetProcAddress. This allows your program to dynamically link to libraries, which can be useful for modular applications or plugin systems.

Here is a simple example demonstrating how to load a shared library and call a function from it:

#include #include typedef void (*FunctionType)(); // Define a function pointer type int main() { // Load the shared library HMODULE hLib = LoadLibrary(TEXT("MyLibrary.dll")); if (hLib == NULL) { std::cerr << "Unable to load library!" << std::endl; return 1; } // Get the address of the function from the library FunctionType myFunction = (FunctionType)GetProcAddress(hLib, "MyFunction"); if (myFunction == nullptr) { std::cerr << "Unable to find function!" << std::endl; FreeLibrary(hLib); return 1; } // Call the function myFunction(); // Clean up FreeLibrary(hLib); return 0; }

C++ LoadLibrary GetProcAddress shared library dynamic linking