What is the difference between an EXE and a DLL?

Concept:

an exe's fullname is Extensible Execute File
an dll's fullname is Dynamic Link Liberary

Difference:

1. .exe use by End User like-Client,.Dll can not use by End User.
2. exe file is a excutable file which runs in a seperate process which is managed by OS,where as a dll file is a dynamic link library which can be used in exe files and other dll files.In .net frame work both are assemblies.

3. DLL stands for dynamic-link library and is Microsoft’s implementation of a shared library. This means that many different programs can use this library to do their tasks making it easier on the programmers so that they do not have to keep reinventing the wheel each time they write software. In simple terms a .DLL file will contain logic that other programs will use.

4. EXE stands for executable and denotes that a program is executable. This just means that if you double click on the file a program will run, normally with some kind of interface for a user to interact with. The file formats for EXE and DLL actually the same.

5. Both files are PE files. Both contain the exact same layout. A DLL is a library and therefore can not be executed. If you try to run it you'll get an error about a missing entry point. An EXE is a program that can be executed. It has an entry point. A flag inside the PE header indicates which file type it is (irrelevant of file extension). The PE header has a field where the entry point for the program resides. In DLLs it isn't used (or at least not as an entry point).

6. One minor difference is that in most cases DLLs have an export section where symbols are exported. EXEs should never have an export section since they aren't libraries but nothing prevents that from happening. The Win32 loader doesn't care either way.

7. Other than that they are identical. So, in summary, EXEs are executable programs while DLLs are libraries loaded into a process and contain some sort of useful functionality like security, database access or something.