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

[Malcolm Matalka <mmatalka@gmail.com>]

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