- 1 year ago
How to compile a shared library on Windows such that it can be used with NativeCall in raku?
To compile a shared library on Windows that can be used with NativeCall in Raku (formerly known as Perl 6), you can follow these steps:
Install a C compiler: First, ensure that you have a C compiler installed on your Windows system. One common choice is MinGW-w64, which provides a GCC compiler for Windows. You can download and install MinGW-w64 from the official website (http://mingw-w64.org/doku.php).
Write the C code: Create your C source code file (.c) that contains the functions you want to expose to Raku through NativeCall. For example, let's say you have a file named
mylib.c
with the following content:c#include <stdio.h>
void greet() {
printf("Hello from mylib!\n");
}
Compile the shared library: Open a command prompt or terminal and navigate to the directory containing your
mylib.c
file. Use the following command to compile the C code into a shared library (.dll):vbnetgcc -shared -o mylib.dll mylib.c
This command instructs the GCC compiler to create a shared library (
mylib.dll
) from themylib.c
source file.Move the shared library: After compilation, move the
mylib.dll
file to a location where Raku can find it. For example, you can place it in the same directory as your Raku script or in a location listed in thePATH
environment variable.Use the shared library in Raku: In your Raku script, use the
NativeCall
module to load and call functions from the shared library. Here's an example script:rakuuse NativeCall;
sub greet() is native("mylib") { * }
greet();
This script uses the
NativeCall
module to load thegreet
function from themylib.dll
shared library. It then calls thegreet
function, which will display "Hello from mylib!".
By following these steps, you can compile a shared library on Windows that can be used with NativeCall in Raku to access functions written in C.