19 lines
966 B
Text
19 lines
966 B
Text
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The libffi library provides a portable, high level programming
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interface to various calling conventions. This allows a programmer to
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call any function specified by a call interface description at
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run-time.
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Some programs may not know at the time of compilation what arguments
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are to be passed to a function. For instance, an interpreter may be
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told at run-time about the number and types of arguments used to call
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a given function. Libffi can be used in such programs to provide a
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bridge from the interpreter program to compiled code.
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Ffi stands for Foreign Function Interface. A foreign function
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interface is the popular name for the interface that allows code
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written in one language to call code written in another language. The
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libffi library really only provides the lowest, machine dependent
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layer of a fully featured foreign function interface. A layer must
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exist above libffi that handles type conversions for values passed
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between the two languages.
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