# Author native UWP plug-ins

> Understand how to author native plug-ins.

To author native Universal Windows Platform (UWP) plug-ins, you need to know how to create native plug-ins for Unity. For more information about native plug-ins and their uses, refer to [Native plug-ins](/engine/6000.6/manual/scripting/compilation-and-code-reload/plug-ins/native.md).

To author native UWP plug-ins, you can use either a precompiled dynamic-link library (DLL) or the C++ source code.

## Precompiled native plug-ins

To P/Invoke into precompiled native plug-ins, you need to:

1. Load the DLL at runtime.
2. Find the function entry point.
3. Call the plug-in.

You need to [compile the DLLs](/engine/6000.6/manual/scripting/compilation-and-code-reload/plug-ins/managed.md) against the appropriate Windows SDK for the target CPU architecture. You also need to [configure the DLLs](/engine/6000.6/manual/scripting/compilation-and-code-reload/plug-ins/managed.md) in the Plug-in Inspector when you add them to a Unity project.

## C++ source code native plug-ins

You can add C++ (.cpp) code files directly into a Unity project, which will act as a plug-in in the Plug-in Inspector. If you [configure the plug-ins](/engine/6000.6/manual/scripting/compilation-and-code-reload/plug-ins/plug-in-inspector.md) to be compatible with UWP and the IL2CPP scripting backend, Unity compiles these C++ files together with the C++ code that it generates from managed assemblies.

## Additional resources

* [Native plug-ins](/engine/6000.6/manual/scripting/compilation-and-code-reload/plug-ins/native.md)
* [Import and configure plug-ins](/engine/6000.6/manual/scripting/compilation-and-code-reload/plug-ins/plug-in-inspector.md)
* [Call and implement native UWP plug-ins](/engine/6000.6/manual/platform-specific/windows-store/uwp-developing/uwp-il2cpp-scripting/uwp-il2cpp-plugins/uwp-native-plugins-call.md)