Automated scientific software scripting with SWIG

Scripting languages such as Python and Tcl are a powerful tool for the construction of flexible scientific software because they provide scientists with an interpreted problem solving environment and they provide a modular framework for controlling software components written in C, C++, and Fortran. However, a common problem faced by the developers of a scripted scientific application is that of integrating compiled code with an interpreter. To solve this problem, an extensible compiler, simplified wrapper and interface generator (SWIG), has been developed to automate the task of integrating compiled code with scripting language interpreters. SWIG requires no modifications to existing code and uses existing source to create bindings for nine different target languages including Python, Perl, Tcl, Ruby, Guile, and Java. By automating language integration, SWIG enables scientists to use scripting languages at all stages of software development and allows existing software to be more easily integrated into a scripting environment. Although SWIG has been in use for more than 6 years, little has been published on its design and the underlying mechanisms that make it work. Therefore, the primary goal of this paper is to cover these topics. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.