Expert · Module 10 · Lesson 10 of 12
Dynamic Loading, ELF Relocations, and Plugin ABIs
Load shared objects at runtime, resolve symbols safely, and design plugin boundaries that survive independent compilation and deployment.
Pro — members onlyAbout 18 minutes
By the end you can
- Explain how the ELF loader resolves shared-library references
- Use dlopen, dlsym, and dlclose with explicit ownership
- Design versioned plugin interfaces
- Identify ABI hazards across compiler and library versions
Builds on Hardware Stack Architecture, Stack Frames, and the System V AMD64 ABI.
01 · A question first
How can a running application add a feature without being relinked, and what must remain stable when the plugin was built by a different compiler invocation?
Make a guess before you read on.
02 · The idea
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What's inside
- Runtime linking
- Design the boundary
- Load a versioned plugin safely
- Lifetime and isolation
- Where it is used
- Operational checklist
- Boundary cases
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