Re: [Caml-list] Make OCaml library available to Java

[Gerd Stolpmann <info@gerd-stolpmann.de>]

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Am Dienstag, den 02.08.2016, 07:51 -0400 schrieb Arlen Cox:
> Thank you for your answers.  I should be more clear on a couple of
> things.  My default method of communication is to use pipes or
> sockets.  However, my code is an abstract domain library.  The
> interface exposes large, recursively defined variants; exposes
> first-class modules (though not functors); and is expected to be
> relatively high performance.
> 
> For now I'll tinker with the js_of_ocaml option.  It might be a pain
> to wrap it properly, but I think it should be possible to make the
> performance acceptable by replacing a few of the hotter internal
> components with native Java code accessed via the Javascript api.
> 
> I am still open to other ideas, though.
> 
> Has anyone considered writing a source-to-source translator from OCaml to Scala?

Scala is fairly slow for symbolical code. Actually, I'd be more
interested in a source-to-source translator from Scala to OCaml to get
better speed... For a translation of OCaml to Scala you need to start
with the typed source code (cmt files) because Scala requires way more
typing hints than OCaml, and to get the omnipresent subtyping under
control. Also, there is no direct counterpart of first-class modules, so
you'd have to work around that.

Gerd

> Thanks,
> Arlen
> 
> On Tue, Aug 2, 2016 at 6:56 AM, Malcolm Matalka <mmatalka@gmail.com> wrote:
> > You could also make an executable written in Ocaml that communicates
> > over stdin/stdout.
> >
> > Arlen Cox <arlencox@gmail.com> writes:
> >
> >> Hi all,
> >>
> >> I'm trying to figure out what the best way is to make an OCaml library
> >> available to a Java program.  I can think of several ways to do this
> >> each with pros and cons:
> >>
> >> 1.  OCaml-Java:  This is the most obvious solution that translates the
> >> OCaml code directly to Java.
> >>   + Simple interface to OCaml code
> >>   + Portable Java-compatible code
> >>   + Can easily call back into Java
> >>   - OCaml-Java is a bit buggy
> >>   - Code runs slower
> >>
> >> 2.  js_of_ocaml:  Translate OCaml to JavaScript and then use the new
> >> "fast" JavaScript engine in Java 8 to execute the JS.
> >>   + Portable Java-compatible code
> >>   + Can call back into Java (albeit, less easily than OCaml-Java)
> >>   - Not type safe interface
> >>   - Possible massive slowdowns or at least unpredictable performance
> >>
> >> 3.  JNI with C Library:  Wrap OCaml code in a C library and then call
> >> into that with JNI
> >>   + Native OCaml performance
> >>   - Complex GC interaction
> >>   - Not type safe
> >>   - Not portable (need different .so for each platform)
> >>   - No tools to help in doing this (CamlJava is both unsupported and
> >> seemingly unidirectional)
> >>   - No easy call back into Java
> >>
> >> Does anyone have any experience with doing this or have any
> >> suggestions on what to do in this situation?
> >>
> >> Thanks,
> >> Arlen
> 

-- 
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Gerd Stolpmann, Darmstadt, Germany    gerd@gerd-stolpmann.de
My OCaml site:          http://www.camlcity.org
Contact details:        http://www.camlcity.org/contact.html
Company homepage:       http://www.gerd-stolpmann.de
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