Static, Dynamic, Mergeable, oh, my!

A theoretical guide to libraries, frameworks, and linking

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If you want to embarrass a senior iOS engineer, ask them to explain the difference between Dynamic Frameworks and Static Libraries.

These concepts are enormously important, but for years, they were packaged up in a box in my brain labelled “I’ll learn about these one day, but until then, I’ll have impostor syndrome”.

Unless you’re working to reduce app bundle size, simplify your dependency graph, optimise launch performance, or speed up build times, you won’t get to put this knowledge into practice.

Let’s change that with a primer on libraries, frameworks, and linking, and then let’s understand what is meant by static and dynamic. We’ll finish by learning about the new mergeable libraries available in Xcode.