Question

I’m using the LoadLibrary function to load a DLL in Windows. My question is this: If I call this method more than once for the same DLL, do I get handles to different instances of the DLL, or will they all refer to the same instance?

Additionally, how does this behaviour correlate to Linux SO files, is it the same or completely different, and what assumptions can I make in this regard? Thanks.

Answer 1

The MSDN documentation states:

The system maintains a per-process reference count on all loaded
modules. Calling LoadLibrary increments the reference count. Calling
the FreeLibrary or FreeLibraryAndExitThread function decrements the
reference count. The system unloads a module when its reference count
reaches zero or when the process terminates (regardless of the
reference count).

So it would appear that loading the module more than once (without matching calls to FreeLibrary) will return the same handle.