Function call translation

Abstract

Methods and apparatus for using description information about a function to translate a call to the function into a call to a corresponding function in a second language. The methods include processing a definition of a function associated with a first language to create description information sufficient to enable translation of a call to the function into a call to a corresponding function in a second language without requiring processing of the definition of the function. In another aspect, the methods include providing a description file of items, each item including description information about a function associated with a first language, and using the file of description items to translate a first program file from the first language into a second language. In another aspect, the methods include providing a library file including functions defined by a first language; processing the library file to create a function library and a description file, the function library including one or more functions defined by a second language, each function in the function library being a translated version of a function in the library file; and using the description file to translate a program file from the first language into the second language, where each call in the program file to a function in the library file is translated into a call to a corresponding function in the second language.

1 . A method comprising:
 processing a definition of a function associated with a first language to create description information about the function, the description information being sufficient to enable translation of a call to the function into a call to a corresponding function in a second language without requiring processing of the definition of the function.