On Tue, Oct 01, 2002 at 10:39:38PM -0400, Smitty wrote:
> On Tuesday 01 October 2002 22:15, you wrote:
> > Hey all....
> >
> > what is ABI? I know what API is, but ABI is a new one for me...what does it
> > mean?
> >
> > Thanks!
> >
> > Russell
>
> Actually, I believe it means Application Binary Interface.
> In other words, you don't get no source code, just a binary to link to.
> Definitely proprietary software.
> Smitty
>
Not necessarily. I believe it's used roughly to allow software from one
OS to run on another. As in, SCO Unix might have an ABI that allows
Linux software to run on SCO Unix boxes. With an A_P_I, the programmer
knows what system and library calls he can make in the source code to
ensure his software will run on your system. Once written, though, he
still must compile it on the target system. So, for example, if I write
the xyz program under Linux and want to run it on SCO, I need to ensure
I put hooks in it to use the SCO libraries and then recompile on the SCO
box. With an A_B_I, I believe the recompile is avoided. So in the SCO
example, the kernel might have a "plug-in" that would sense that a Linux
program was starting, and shift its binary interpreter over to
understand the way Linux is making its system and library calls.
Paul
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