Lowcode: Redoing NativeBoost Portably
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The document discusses improving foreign function interface (FFI) techniques in Smalltalk by making them more portable across implementations. It proposes extending the interpreter to allow direct calls to C functions, similar to approaches used in Python, Lua, and .NET. This would involve adding primitives for basic CPU types to the bytecode and implementing the interface in plugins for different backends like C, C++, and a virtual CPU.
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![What I also want to do
ffiFloat32AtOffsetPut: zeroBasedOffset put: value {
((float*)self)[0] = value;
}](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/y65txpzsximgmizbbblk-signature-a38ecbc5be3002def268ae47d34b595fcd1eb4e11f416837e01b38341a42dcee-poli-140829075338-phpapp01/85/Lowcode-Redoing-NativeBoost-Portably-9-320.jpg)
Lowcode: Redoing NativeBoost Portably
- 1. Lowcode Redoing NativeBoost Portably Ronie Salgado
- 2. The Current FFI Problem ● SqueakFFI/ThreadedFFI, Alien, NativeBoost. ● The callbacks ● Performance ● Raw memory manipulation?
- 3. Ways of interfacing with C ● Extend the Interpreter. Done in Java(JNI), Lua, Python ● Just call. Done in .Net, D
- 4. Extending the Interpreter Python Example. Source: https://docs.python.org/2/extending/extending.html
- 5. Just Calling
- 6. Why I do not like NativeBoost
- 8. What I would like to do ffiFloat32AtOffsetPut: zeroBasedOffset put: value (float*)self atOffset: zeroBasedOffset put: value The actual syntax has to be discussed.
- 9. What I also want to do ffiFloat32AtOffsetPut: zeroBasedOffset put: value { ((float*)self)[0] = value; }
- 10. How it is done ● Extend the Sista Extended Bytecode set. ● Expose basic CPU primitive type. ● Implemented in the VM. ● Implemented in plugins.
- 11. Many Backends ● C Interpreter plugin. (Done) ● C++ LLVM plugin. (Done) ● VirtualCPU. (Incomplete) ● StackInterpreter. (ToDo) ● Cogit. (ToDo)