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diff --git a/swigweb/nsf.ht b/swigweb/nsf.ht deleted file mode 100644 index 0b41be6ae..000000000 --- a/swigweb/nsf.ht +++ /dev/null @@ -1,61 +0,0 @@ -SWIG and Typesystems - -<h2>SWIG and Typesystems</h2> - -<p> -For the past seven years, a considerable amount of effort has gone -into the development of SWIG and its support for various programming -languages. Currently, more than a <a href="guilty.html">dozen developers</a> work on the system -and there are thousands of users. However, almost all of SWIG's development -has been relatively ad-hoc---primarily driven by feature requests from -users. As SWIG's original author, coordinating all of this chaos has -always been a bit of challenge. In fact, it's been rather difficult to even -describe what SWIG "is" and "how it works" without using terms like -"magic" and, well, "more magic." Needless to say, this isn't the most -academic way to look it ;-). - -<p> -A little over a year ago, I became interested in the relationship -between SWIG and work in the area of type systems. In order -to support advanced C++ features like namespaces and templates, a -significant amount of very difficult development work focused on the -SWIG type system. Moreover, this work resulted in a lot of old SWIG -features being folded into type system extensions. Because of this -work, I have now come to view SWIG as being mostly driven as an -extension of the C++ type system rather than an extension of a C++ -parser. This difference is subtle, but it is the only way to really -understand how SWIG works at a fundamental level. - -<p> -To the best of my knowledge, no one working on automatic C/C++ wrapper -generators has really approached the wrapping problem from the -standpoint of type systems. Instead, everyone seems to focus on the problem -of <em>parsing</em> C++, which, although important, is not enough to -really understand what is going on. - -<p> -Starting in the summer of 2003, the NSF will be funding a -<a href="http://www.fastlane.nsf.gov/servlet/showaward?award=0237835">research -project</a> at the University of Chicago to explore the relationship -between type-systems and wrapper generation in more detail. A lot of -this work will involve SWIG and the semantics of its underlying type -system. Moreover, this work will be exploring some exciting new -features such as software contracts and improved mixed-language -debugging support. We're also going to try and make connections -between SWIG and related work in the area of programming languages. - -<p> -What does this mean for the future of SWIG? Well, my hope is that -this work will make the system more capable, more reliable, and more -useful than ever. I think everyone will be pleasantly surprised with -some of the changes. - -<p> -As always, I'd like to acknowledge everyone who has contributed to SWIG -over the years---thank you for your support! - -<p> -Cheers, -<p> -Dave Beazley <br> -March 23, 2003 |