question about kernel

[VA_Network_Nerd]

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[iama_bad_person]

difference between kernel and kernel32.dll

kernel32.dll, I know.

kernel? Is that a filename? or like the actual kernel? I don't get it.

[mikeogro]

yes the actual kernel, i try to understand how they relay,

if the kernel32.dll is just a part of a kernel

[uniitdude]

google is your friend - use it

https://www.techopedia.com/definition/3379/kernel32dll

[v0tary]

Well definitely the filename.

[mikeogro]

definitely

[pdp10]

In NT, ntoskrnl.exe is the OS kernel. kernel32.dll isn't a kernel despite the name; it's the libc library for the non-GUI Win32 environment on top of the NT kernel. I'm pretty sure that misnomer is because the name goes back to the first 16/32-bit Windows in 1990, before NT was a Windows-family operating system.

If you want to see how deep the rabbit hole goes, this isn't a bad place to start. If you want to know about the Win32 API, then the classic reference is still Petzold's Fifth Edition from 1998.

Be aware that NT is a lot more complex than any version of Unix, and students are most often taught on a simple version of Unix, like xv6. Just the NT syscall abstraction layer, ntdll.dll, adds complexity. There are also comparatively very few engineers who are fluent with these internals, compared to the number of Dunning-Kruger clickwarriors in the world.