Fine-grained Language Composition: A Case Study

TL;DR

This paper introduces a novel fine-grained syntactic approach for embedding PHP and Python within each other, enabling variable referencing across languages with minimal performance overhead.

Contribution

It presents a new method for language composition that is more granular and efficient than traditional FFI-based approaches.

Findings

Achieves cross-language embedding with acceptable overhead of up to 2.6x

Addresses design challenges of fine-grained language composition

Demonstrates feasibility of syntactic language embedding

Abstract

Although run-time language composition is common, it normally takes the form of a crude Foreign Function Interface (FFI). While useful, such compositions tend to be coarse-grained and slow. In this paper we introduce a novel fine-grained syntactic composition of PHP and Python which allows users to embed each language inside the other, including referencing variables across languages. This composition raises novel design and implementation challenges. We show that good solutions can be found to the design challenges; and that the resulting implementation imposes an acceptable performance overhead of, at most, 2.6x.