Question

After googling, i came to know that Dllimport makes the function available for other modules,

is it mandatory to declare function with extern “c” identifier?

Also, Dllexport means, Dll itself uses the function while compiling it says. so by default all

functions present in DLL are dllexport?

Answer 1

__declspec(dllexport) exports a symbol. It makes it available from outside a DLL.

__declspec(dllimport) imports a symbol. It practically says “this symbol is not defined in this application, it needs to be imported from a DLL file”.

You don’t have to declare it with extern "C". If you don’t use extern "C", then the symbol will be exported as a C++ symbol, and you will only be able to call it from C++ (and languages that support calling C++ DLLs). If you use extern "C", then the symbol will be exported as a C symbol, and you will be able to call it from languages that support caling C DLLs.

If you want to use your DLL in C#, you will need to use extern "C".

Here is an excellent tutorial that shows you how to use a C++ DLL in C#: How to marshal a C++ class. I have used solution A in many projects at work.

Also, here is a short tutorial on how you can use a C++ DLL in another C++ application: How to create and use DLL in C++.