[ANSI-Smalltalk] Foreign Function Interface

[Bruce Badger]

On 16/11/2007, Paolo Bonzini <paolo.bonzini at lu.unisi.ch> wrote:
> Bruce Badger wrote:
> > A consistent FFI for Smalltalk would be a great thing.  This would be
> > way outside anything I would be qualified to look at, but I think it
> > is important nonetheless.

> I think most people are seeking portability of *OS-portable*
> applications between dialects.  Therefore, I think we can live with this
> not being portable.

We can *live* without a great many things :-)

Smalltalk is often said to turn it's back on the rest of the world.
This is bad PR but also calling out to system commands is something
that needs to happen quite a bit.  Certainly in my experience.

I would love to be able to write some code to call a C routine (say)
in VW and have the exact same code run on the same hardware in
GemStone.

While perhaps not the highest priority, and whist almost certainly not
being an easy win, I think this is something we need to have on the
table. ... even if all the standard does is say use "SWIG and here is
how".

All the best,
    Bruce
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