Difference between Site Defination and Site Template

Hi All

please find the differences between site Template n Site Definition.

Site Templates : 
These are  snapshots of  sites at a point of time. When a user customizes a site from the UI or SPD, the custom template consists of the difference between the original state of the site (determined by its definition) and the state of the site or list when the custom template is generated.
Custom templates remain tied to a particular site definition (for example, the site definition for SharePoint Web sites or Meeting Workspace Web sites), so that if the site definition is not present or is changed, the custom template cannot work.
The site template package is stored as a CAB-based file that can be downloaded or uploaded to site collections by users with the appropriate rights.

Site Definitions : 
site definition is the core definition of what a site is in SharePoint.
site definition is installed on file system of web front ends, located at ..\14\Template\SiteTemplates. This directory is language-neutral.
Site definition files include .xml, .aspx, .ascx, and .master page files, as well as document template files (.dot, .htm, and so on), and content files (.gif, .doc, and so on).
major benefit is that the Page and List definition is read locally from the file system, not from Content Database.
A site definition Page and List definition are cached at IIS process startup
Customizations made to site definition are stored in content database, not on the file system. This can be performed via SharePoint Designer, or when custom site templates are saved.
are developer created

for further infomation,

http://blogs.msdn.com/b/brianwilson/archive/2008/07/13/site-definitions-versus-site-templates-and-deciding-on-the-correct-customization-approach.aspx

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd586633(v=office.11).aspx

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