The file vcruntime140.dll is a key component of the Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable for Visual Studio. This DLL file is part of the Microsoft C Runtime Library and is essential for running applications developed with Microsoft Visual Studio using the C++ programming language. Specifically, the "vcruntime" part of the file name refers to the Visual C++ runtime library, and the "140" signifies that this file is associated with Visual Studio 2015 (the versioning scheme Microsoft uses assigns 140 to Visual Studio 2015).
This redistributable package contains the runtime components needed to run C++ applications built with Visual Studio 2015. It includes libraries that provide support for features of the C++ standard library, and runtime support for applications using native or mixed code. When developers build C++ applications, they often rely on standardized libraries that contain common code and functions. These libraries, like the one vcruntime140.dll belongs to, are not packaged with the application but are called upon from a common repository on the user's system.
If vcruntime140.dll is missing from a system or becomes corrupted, it can lead to errors when trying to run C++ applications that depend on this file. The application may fail to start, or specific features within the application might not work correctly. This problem is commonly resolved by downloading and installing the appropriate version of the Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable package, which will ensure that vcruntime140.dll and other necessary runtime components are properly installed on the system.