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Embedding an interpreted language using higher-order functions and types

Part of: JFP Research Articles

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 September 2011

NORMAN RAMSEY
NORMAN RAMSEY*
Affiliation:
Department of Computer Science, Tufts University, Medford, MA 02155, USA (e-mail: nr@cs.tufts.edu)
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Abstract

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Using an embedded, interpreted language to control a complicated application can have significant software-engineering benefits. But existing interpreters are designed for embedding into C code. To embed an interpreter into a different language requires an API suited to that language. This paper presents Lua-ML, a new API that is suited to languages that provide higher-order functions and types. The API exploits higher-order functions and types to reduce the amount of glue code needed to use an embedded interpreter. Where embedding in C requires a special-purpose “glue function” for every function to be embedded, embedding in Lua-ML requires only a description of each function's type. Lua-ML also makes it easy to define a Lua function whose behavior depends on the number and types of its arguments.

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Articles
Information
Journal of Functional Programming , Volume 21 , Issue 6 , November 2011 , pp. 585 - 615
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2011

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