Language binding

In computing, a binding from a programming language to a library or OS service is an API providing that service in the language.

Many software libraries are written in systems programming languages such as C or C++. To use these libraries from another (usually higher-level) language such as Java, Common Lisp, Python or Lua, a binding to the library must be created in that language possibly requiring the recompilation of the language's code depending on the amount of modification necessary; however most languages offer some sort of foreign functions interface like Python's ctypes and ecl's cffi, and uffi.

Software reuse is a major motivation for creating library bindings, rather than reimplementing the library in several languages. Another is the impossibility of implementing certain algorithms efficiently in high-level languages.

See also

• Application programming interface (API)
• Application Binary Interface (ABI)
• Calling convention
• Common Language Infrastructure current .NET cross-language cross-platform Object Model (managed languages only)
• Comparison of application virtual machines
• COM Microsoft Windows only cross-language Object Model
• CORBA Common Object Request Broker Architecture, cross language cross platform object model
• DCOM Distributed COM, extension making COM able to work in networks
• Embedded SQL
• Foreign function interface
• Freedesktop.org D-Bus current open cross language cross platform Object Model
• Name mangling
• SWIG - open-source interfaces bindings generator from many languages to many languages
• Portable object cross language cross platform Object Model definition
• Porting
• XPCOM Mozilla applications cross-platform Component Object Model
• Wrapper function

External links

[1] ISO standard for language bindings