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Diffstat (limited to 'dev-libs/libffi/metadata.xml')
| -rw-r--r-- | dev-libs/libffi/metadata.xml | 37 |
1 files changed, 37 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/dev-libs/libffi/metadata.xml b/dev-libs/libffi/metadata.xml new file mode 100644 index 000000000000..114d36e9534f --- /dev/null +++ b/dev-libs/libffi/metadata.xml @@ -0,0 +1,37 @@ +<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?> +<!DOCTYPE pkgmetadata SYSTEM "http://www.gentoo.org/dtd/metadata.dtd"> +<pkgmetadata> +<herd restrict=">=dev-libs/libffi-3.3.3">gnustep</herd> +<maintainer restrict=">=dev-libs/libffi-3.3.3"> + <email>fafhrd@gentoo.org</email> + <description>Maintainer of GNUstep for Gentoo, and libffi is a core dependency.</description> +</maintainer> +<longdescription> +Compilers for high level languages generate code that follow certain +conventions. These conventions are necessary, in part, for separate +compilation to work. One such convention is the "calling +convention". The "calling convention" is essentially a set of +assumptions made by the compiler about where function arguments will +be found on entry to a function. A "calling convention" also specifies +where the return value for a function is found. + +Some programs may not know at the time of compilation what arguments +are to be passed to a function. For instance, an interpreter may be +told at run-time about the number and types of arguments used to call +a given function. Libffi can be used in such programs to provide a +bridge from the interpreter program to compiled code. + +The libffi library provides a portable, high level programming +interface to various calling conventions. This allows a programmer to +call any function specified by a call interface description at run +time. + +Ffi stands for Foreign Function Interface. A foreign function +interface is the popular name for the interface that allows code +written in one language to call code written in another language. The +libffi library really only provides the lowest, machine dependent +layer of a fully featured foreign function interface. A layer must +exist above libffi that handles type conversions for values passed +between the two languages. +</longdescription> +</pkgmetadata> |