A handle is a general-purpose identifier used in programming. It acts as a reference or pointer to an object, enabling a program to interact with the object without directly accessing its memory.
Handles are not used directly by the program but are instead passed between functions to facilitate operations. Some of the most common types of handles include:
- Process/Thread Handle (
HANDLE): Used to identify and interact with processes or threads. - Module Handle (
HMODULE): Refers to a loaded module (e.g., a DLL or executable file). - Window Handle (
HWND): Represents a specific window or UI element within a graphical interface.
Handles are system-wide, so we can pass them from a process to another process for processing.