In linux how can I tell if I'm linking to a static or dynamic library?

Question

I have a static and a dynamic library with the same name: libclsocket.a and libclsocket.so When I specify what library I want to link to i simply enter -lclsocket as the library. My program complies and runs perfectly fine, but what library am I using? the static library or the dynamic library? I want to give my friend my program, and I'm not sure If i need to include the libraries in the release. C++, codelite, pcLinuxOS 2010

Solution 1

You can try running ldd on the executable and seeing if the accompanying .so is being detected as required in the list of dependencies.

ldd man page is here.

Solution 2

If you use the -static flag, all components will be made static. And -l may include shared libraries. So specifying the static library filename (e.g. with /usr/lib/libfoo.a for example, no -l prepended), should get you the desired effect.

Comments

[wkl]

You didn't specify the -static flag when building with GCC, so most likely you are linking to the shared object. As @Soo Wei Tan answered, you can use ldd on the binary to determine its runtime linker dependencies.

[TheFuzz]

It is linking to the shared libraries. So how would I link to a static lib? I'm also assuming it defaults to shared libraries.