ARSAPI:

ARSAPI is an application programmer's interface between ARS and programming languages like C, C++ and Java. It is described in detail in the book 'Programmierung pur'. The book uses several case studies to demonstrate that ARS based programming is possible also in these languages.

ARSAPI for C:

ARSAPI for C gets special coverage in the mentioned book and is used to implement A++ with a rich set of primitive functions in a version that consists of a compiler and a virtual machine. For more information see page ARS++.

In ARSAPI for C three datatypes are of significant importance: `PRIM', `CLAM' and `LAMB'. They define three different categories of functions:

• PRIM Primitive functions in C. These are normal C functions with a specific argument protocol, so that they can also be used in AVIM, the virtual machine language in ARS++.

• CLAM Lambda abstractions in C. They represent the core of the implementation of ARS in C.
   
  • Like an `object' is an encapsulation of attributes and methods in object oriented technology, so is a `clam' an encapsulation of an abstraction with its total environment, including attributes and methods. Such a 'clam' is a so-called 'first class' object, that can be treated like any other data item: it can be stored in memory, passed to a function as an argument and returned as a value from a function.

• LAMB A function of this type is a representation of an AVIM lambda abstraction in C. A lambda abstraction in ARS++ will be translated by the compiler ACOMP into a function in the machine language AVIM. The virtual machine language interpreter has to convert this AVIM function into an instance of type 'LAMB'.
  A 'lamb' is also a 'first class' object.

For details see chapter 11 in the book 'Programmierung pur'.