Comparison and evaluation of the linkage techniques

The advantages and disadvantages of the individual linkage techniques are presented below.

Advantages and disadvantages of static linking

Advantages

• As far as the application is concerned, it is irrelevant whether a CRTE is installed on the user’s system and, if it is, which version of CRTE is installed. This makes it easier to port the application to different systems.

• No link operations are required at runtime.

• No link name is required.

Disadvantages

• Increased disk storage requirements. The runtime system may account for up to an 800 KB increase in code.
• Longer link times
• Longer load times as it is always necessary to load the entire application.
• Corrections in the CRTE do not take effect in an already loaded application. It may be necessary to invalidate corrections in the employed CRTE by means of object corrections in the application.

Advantages and disadvantages of partial bind

Advantages

• Shorter production times due to faster linking with the partial bind libraries.
• Reduced disk storage requirement since no runtime system is linked.
• High-performance loading provided that the corresponding subsystems are loaded.
• Corrections in the CRTE generally take effect automatically, including in linked applications.

Disadvantage

CRTE must be installed in the executing system. (However, this can also be viewed as an advantage.)

Advantages and disadvantages of dynamic linking with DBL

Advantages

• No link run is required for production.
• Reduced disk storage requirement since no runtime system is linked.
• Corrections in the CRTE generally take effect automatically, including in linked applications.

Disadvantages

• CRTE must be installed in the executing system. (However, this can also be viewed as an advantage.)
• It is necessary to specify the location at which the open references can be resolved.
• The link process must be repeated on each load operation.