Static library

A static library or statically linked library contains functions and data that can be included in a consuming computer program at build-time such that the library does not need to be accessible in a separate file at run-time. If all libraries are statically linked, then the resulting executable will be stand-alone, a.k.a. a static build.

Static libraries are collections of object files, usually augmented with a symbol table that accelerates the search for the needed file(s). On most systems (Unix-like systems and Microsoft Windows) this comes in the form of ar archive files, though on some systems such as z/OS and OpenVMS a different format is used. A static library is either merged with other static libraries and object files at build-time to form a single executable or loaded at run-time into the address space of their corresponding executable at a static memory offset determined at compile-time/link-time.