Is the LAME.exe file dependant on the LAME.dll file, or are they independent programs?

IE. can I use the lame.exe file by itself and do the same with the lame.dll file?

If so, what are the advantages and disadvantages of each.

I am fairly new to this, I use EAC and point it to the lame.exe file, but I have the dll in the folder as well.

Thank You

Independant.

Exe:

Pros
Total Control Anything lame can do you can do it with the exe.
Some programs interface with it
portability can encode any wav file anywhere as long as you have the one exe file

Cons
Dos based not too good for newbies

Dll

Pros
Gui interface good for newbies

Cons
Not portable you have to take the dll plus a frontend.

Plus there are frontends for the exe

You can't decode with the dll. It's not compiled against the mpglib decoding libs. Otherwise, for encoding, the results will be the same for equal settings.

to clearify that a bit. the lame executeable is a Win32 program, it most likely would not run under good old DOS. (at least if you did not make a special compile for DOS). the lame executeable has no GUI feature and therefore has to be started from the command shell. (for fun you could put the lame.exe onto your desktop, drag'n'drop a wave file on it and see what's happening)

Thanks for the answers.