Normally, the resources are compiled directly to an .RES (binary) file, permitting the Linker to link the compiled resources with the compiled .EXE executable. However, when editing an existing .EXE or .DLL source, no .RES file is created. Instead, the resources are written directly to the runtime program.
Using the Microsoft command-line compiler, NMake scripts (.MAK) contain instructions to compile .RC resource scripts before linking the resulting .RES compiled resources.
Note that both resource editors (and most other systems) create an .RC resource script file—a text file—that contains all of the nonimage resources. Image resources, such as bitmaps, icons, cursors, and toolbars, are normally stored as separate image files referenced by the .RC resource script.