difference between dragging frameworks into framework folder and drag Link With Library?

Question

In Xcode, what is the difference between:

Dragging framework (i.e. LoginWithAmazon.framework) into framework folder in the project tree (left pane in Xcode)

compared to

drag-and-drop the framework into the 'Link With Libraries' in Targets->[Project Name]?

Answer 1

The difference is that dragging a framework into your project won't necessarily link it to your binary (or target). Dragging a framework into your project (which you see in the Project Navigator) basically just puts it there until you actually link it with a target. With Apple's frameworks some of the linking is automatic, although for 3rd Party frameworks you'll almost always need to link them with your target.

Here's an example — you may have a project in which there are multiple targets, such as a iOS version and an OS X version. The iOS version might require a framework that OS X doesn't, although you can still have it's framework within your project. Since you wouldn't want to use that framework with the OS X target, you would only want to link it with the iOS target.

You can think of the frameworks dragged into your project almost as placeholders until you actually link them to a target.