The main goal of this investigation is to organize shared data and code across 
multiple binary files. This is especially important for something like a base
layer that will be used in a program that supports hot-reloading or plugins.

Each isolated example in this repository explores a way to set up the base
layer, plugin, and main program.

The examples:

*_linking - Concrete examples for each operating system showing how to 
            setup and use various types of dynamic linking. In these
            the "base" layer uses load-time linking, the "plugin" layer uses
            run-time linking, and the "main" layer acts as the executable that
            binds it all together into a process.

*_before_main - Concrete examples for each operating system showing how to
                create a function that runs before main.

clang - Build scripts that build the concrete examples with clang instead of
        cl or gcc. In each case clang can build the same source. In some cases
        clang on windows can even build the linux source. The build lines for
        clang that replace cl require some modification. The build lines for
        clang that replace gcc have the exact same flags and inputs.

xlist - My prefered solution to the problem posed in the investigation which
        relies only on run-time linking & before-main execution. It uses an
        xlist to manage the maintenance burden of run-time linking, and a 
        basic outline of the abstracted form of the base layer.