Editing GNU Libtool (section)

== Rationale ==

Different [[operating system]]s handle [[shared library|shared libraries]] differently.
Some platforms do not use shared libraries at all.
It can be difficult to make a software program portable: the C compiler differs from system to system; certain library functions are missing on some systems; header files may have different names.

Libtool helps manage the creation of [[static library|static]] and [[dynamic library|dynamic]] [[library (computing)|libraries]] on various [[Unix-like]] operating systems.
Libtool accomplishes this by abstracting the library-creation process, hiding differences between various systems (e.g. [[Linux]] systems vs. [[Solaris (operating system)|Solaris]]).

GNU Libtool is designed to simplify the process of compiling a computer program on a new system, by "encapsulating both the platform-specific dependencies, and the user interface, in a single script".
<ref name="Libtool manual">[https://www.gnu.org/software/libtool/manual/libtool.html Libtool Manual]</ref>
When porting a program to a new system, Libtool is designed so the porter need not read low-level documentation for the shared libraries to be built, rather just run a ''configure'' script (or equivalent).
<ref name="Libtool manual" />