I will make this advice really brief as I find myself answering questions related to school work, essays or other documents. The difference between love and dating is this.
Dating is getting to know more about someone. Understanding their past up to their present. Dating is to get to see how people act and react to what you say and what you don't say. Love is love. Finding an emotional attachment to someone. To begin caring for someone regardless of their flaws or short comings. Love is patient, kind, unwavering and unrelenting. Love never fails but people do.