libffi/libffi
Libffi
libffi is a foreign function interface library that enables calling functions written in other languages at runtime. It serves as a multi-architecture ABI wrapper and dynamic call frame generator, allowing the execution of external functions based on runtime descriptions of argument types and return values.
The project provides a portable interface to handle diverse calling conventions across different hardware architectures and operating systems. It includes capabilities for executable closure allocation, which allows foreign code to trigger callbacks within a host language via jump tables stored in executable memory.
Beyond function invocation, the library manages low-level assembly stubs and utilizes call plan caching to reduce the overhead of mapping types to registers. It also includes a binary version script converter for transforming symbol-based version scripts between different linker formats.
Features
- Foreign Function Interfaces - Provides a foreign function interface to call functions in other languages by dynamically constructing call frames.
- Dynamic Call Frame Construction - Constructs function call stacks at runtime by arranging arguments in memory according to hardware calling conventions.
- Assembly Stubs - Provides low-level assembly stubs to bridge generic function calls to hardware-specific register and stack layouts.
- Multi-Architecture ABI Wrappers - Wraps diverse calling conventions across multiple hardware architectures and operating systems.
- Calling Convention Abstractions - Supports various calling conventions like stdcall, thiscall, and fastcall across different hardware architectures.
- Dynamic Call Frame Generators - Generates function call frames at runtime based on dynamic descriptions of argument and return types.
- Language Interoperability - Enables execution of code across different programming languages using a portable interface for various calling conventions.
- Portable Function Invocations - Executes compiled functions regardless of the target hardware calling convention through a portable interface.
- Executable Memory Allocations - Allocates memory regions with execution permissions to store jump tables for redirecting foreign calls.
- Function-Pointer Callbacks - Creates executable closures that allow native libraries to trigger logic and functions within the host language.
- Executable Closure Allocations - Allocates memory with execution permissions to create function closures for external callbacks.
- Executable Closure Providers - Generates executable closures that allow external programs to trigger callbacks within the host language via jump tables.
- Call Plan Caches - Caches pre-calculated argument layouts to reduce the overhead of mapping types to registers for frequent calls.
- General Libraries - Portable foreign-function interface library for C.
- General Purpose Libraries - Portable foreign-function interface library.
- Scripting and Bindings - Portable library for implementing foreign function interfaces.
Star history
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