Can someone please explain in easy terms what is static library linking vs dynamic library linking other one has a larger memory map than the other or that the static library is used to compile/link with the program that will use it versus being loaded at runtime?

I also need to create a static library of a program that I made in vs2008 and give one function interface to access the library.

one of the requirements reads as such " * API should be in the form of static library. company xxx will link the library into a third party application to prevent any possible exposure of the code(dll)"

how can they say both static and dll at the same time. I have never works with static library before. So please any help would be nice.