Byond<->C Boundary optimization request

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Jun 13 2016, 8:43 pm
A better external function interface would be preferred to somethign like this.

A c lib that can generate and update valid byond list structures that we can then compile into our own external libraries would be a vast improvement and represent a great leap in capability.

I'm with Optimum on this.

Being able to call extern C functions was kind of a half-assed solution in the first place.

A better solution would have been along the lines of exposing most of the DM internal types and structures to a DLL that could be grabbed externally, and then providing interfaces that allow us to overload a proc/verb with function pointer. At minimum.

Even better would be the ability to inject primitives and C memory structures into the objects' properties so that we could create data types ourselves for things like bytearrays, hard-typed integers, double-precision floats, etc. that are backed by compiled C code.

The call()() functionality has always been no small let-down.
Jun 13 2016, 8:58 pm
So you'd rather put off optimizing what we have for getting 2/3rds of the VM rewritten to do what you want.
Jun 13 2016, 9:52 pm
I should add here that caching the proc address in the DLL seems pretty reasonable to me. That's something I've added to my list to look at. I consider it a separate request from sending the args directly.
Jun 14 2016, 2:06 pm
So you'd rather put off optimizing what we have for getting 2/3rds of the VM rewritten to do what you want.

That's a rather dishonest paraphrase.
Jul 6 2016, 9:58 pm
I see a lot of back and forth here, but I've yet to see a solution presented that would allow us to use DLL's more efficiently.

@LummoxJR: Do you have any ideas? Basically the problem is that call() currently introduces a significant overhead. In my case I'd love a way to schedule a proc call from within a DLL/SO file, since the communication from BYOND->C is one-way and I have to resort to polling using call(). Would it be possible to provide a C/C++ API to "call (schedule) a proc"? Even if it's limited (char* only, converted to BYOND string format) it would still be a big step forward from what we have now.
Jul 6 2016, 10:15 pm
In response to NullQuery
NullQuery wrote:
@LummoxJR: Do you have any ideas? Basically the problem is that call() currently introduces a significant overhead. In my case I'd love a way to schedule a proc call from within a DLL/SO file, since the communication from BYOND->C is one-way and I have to resort to polling using call(). Would it be possible to provide a C/C++ API to "call (schedule) a proc"? Even if it's limited (char* only, converted to BYOND string format) it would still be a big step forward from what we have now.

Yes, it seems like it'd be reasonable to add an API call that would allow a proc call from a DLL.
Jul 6 2016, 11:38 pm
Is it on The List™ / do you have a timeline for implementation at this time? I have some ideas I'd love to try out with this.
Jul 7 2016, 9:28 am
In response to NullQuery
NullQuery wrote:
Is it on The List / do you have a timeline for implementation at this time? I have some ideas I'd love to try out with this.

The List is going through a process at the moment where I'm deciding what to push on to 512 so I can get 511 out earlier. Adding a hook for API calls, especially one with a non-mangled name which might be difficult to arrange, isn't on my radar just yet but I think it would be a nifty idea.
Jul 7 2016, 6:00 pm
Being primarily a C++ programmer, I find this discussion exciting. :D



Having the ability to use BYOND is primarily a rendering and datum management engine while C/C++ does a lot of the hard work could definitely open up some improvements.
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