What is a dll file ?
A .dll file contains compiled code you can use in your application to perform specific program functions and may be required by another application or module (such as .exe or .dll) to load it through an entry point. It is a library that contains code and data that can be used by more than one program at the same time. It helps promote modularization of code, code reuse, efficient memory usage, and reduced disk space. So the operating system and the programs load faster, run faster, and take less disk space on the computer.
What is .Net dll ?
When you implement a .Net DLL (Assembly) in .NET Languages such as C# or VB.NET you produce a Managed Assembly. Managed Assembly is the component standard specified by the .NET. Hence, .Net assemblies are understandable only to Microsoft.NET and can be used only in .NET managed applications. A manage assembly contains managed code and it is executing by the .NET Runtime. When you create a DLL with C++ you produce a win32/Com DLL. If you use this dll in a .NET Language, the Visual Studio create automatically an INTEROP file for you, so you can call the "unmanaged" dll from manage code .
For using a .Net DLL (Assembly), the simplest option is to copy the dll to the bin folder. Normal DLL files are need to be register with the "regsvr32" tool.
