From: Lyndon Samson <lyndon.samson@...>
Date: 2004-11-17T19:08:24+09:00
Subject: Re: Ruby to C to another language (perhaps Java (I Don't Need JRuby))

Sounds like you are better off skipping the C/C++ layer and using
something like shared memory/memory mapped files to communicate
between ruby and java.

You could use real threads, or some sort of co-routine.

Simple solution would be to use XML, otherwise you'll need to write
something that unpacks complex structures from byte arrays.


BTW, your subject line is a little confusing, I thought the post would
be about a Ruby to C translator. :-)


On Wed, 17 Nov 2004 15:42:19 +0900, Zach Dennis <zdennis@mktec.com> wrote:
> This posting is more for a learning thing then anything else at this
> point. I've been playing with Java to C via JNI lately doing some pretty
> basic tests; calling methods, getting and settings fields, passing
> primitive types around, etc...
> 
> A while back (a few months ago) I did some Ruby to C tests of pretty
> much the same caliber.
> 
> I would like to combine the two approaches and share some objects
> between Ruby to C to Java and vise versa. I am not looking for the JVM
> to be able to process ruby code. (no JRuby)
> 
> Has anyone had a similar approach (even if it wasn't Java) where they
> were able to wrap a few Objects and use C as the middle man to communicate?
> 
> If so, did you have to embed the ruby compiler inside the *.so or *.dll
> file when running the interpretor of the other language (i presume yes?)
> and what was the level of difficulty (one word answers are fine. I can
> live with easy, hard, difficult, if you want to share a whole paragraph
> then please do)?
> 
> Is it difficult to share data structures between three different
> languages. Again Ruby/C/"3rd Language"?
> 
> What I am trying to get out of this is in the long run is to be able to
> have a few data structures that I can share between Ruby and Java, via
> C. I currently have java application and I feel I could code quicker
> certain aspects alot quicker in Ruby if only I could share a data
> structure/object. Ideally I would like to do something like:
> 
> ---In My Ruby Code---
> class StringProcessor
>         def process_str( str )
>                 #process
>                 return process_str
>         end
> end
> 
> ---In my Java Code----
> class StringProcessor{
>         public native String _processString( String str );
>         public void processString( String str ){
>                 this._processString( str );
>         }
>         public static void main( String[] args ){
>                 new StringProcessor().processString( aBigString );
>         }
> }
> 
> -----In my C Code (pseudo)-----
> Java_StringProcessor__processString jstring ( jstring str ){
>         char c = jStringToCharArray( str )
>         c = Ruby_StringProcessor_processString( c )
>         return charToJString( c )
> }
> 
> jStringToCharArray char[] ( jstring str ){
>         char[] c
>         //convert
>         return c
> }
> 
> charToJString jstring( char[] c )
>         jstring j
>         //convert
>         return j
> }
> 
> Ruby_StringProcessor_processString char[] ( rstring str ){
>         char[] c;
>         //Process
>         return c;
> }
> 
> This is not a well thought out example. It's just off the top of my head.
> 
> So does anyone know if this is possible?
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Zach
> 
>