Hi, is it possible to use c/c++ code in kotlin-nat...

# kotlin-native

[felislynx]

Hi, is it possible to use c/c++ code in kotlin-native (similarly to JNI?). I'm going to write program that executes inside Raspberry Pi and i might need some native code to communicate with external devices 🙂

[Artyom Degtyarev [JB]]

Yes, you can generate bindings for native libraries and utilize them in your code. See doc for clarification, or have a look at the gitchurn sample from the K/N repository. It shows an example of libgit2 library use.

[magnumrocha]

so, is it possible to generate kotlin bindings for a C++ library with cinterop? instead of use JNI to communicate with the native side...

[felislynx]

Thanks Artyom i will take a look

[Artyom Degtyarev [JB]]

No, @magnumrocha, C++ interop is not available. If you can somehow wrap your library to look as a C one - maybe it will be possible.

[magnumrocha]

thanks @Artyom Degtyarev [JB]

[napperley]

@felislynx - Presumably you are doing some form of embedded development. If that is the case then try to use C libraries if possible since most embedded development libraries are written in C. Few embedded development libraries are written in C++ (most of those are Arduino related).

[napperley]

Bartosz - What kind of sw development are you trying to do?

[felislynx]

@napperley Kind of alerting system for vehicles. You are right, most of libs are in C for my external devices but some are in c++ or python. This will be nice hybrid system in Raspberry Pi 😄

[felislynx]

Normally i would do it in Python but General decision was to use Kotlin

[magnumrocha]

I've worked in a company where there is a big Map Rendering Engine implemented in C++ with apps for Android (Kotlin) and iOS (Swift), in the time I was there, I've study kotlin native to realize if we could change from C++ to a high level language and left JNI code in Android (many headaches...), but the interop with the C++ was essential (the devs won't rewrite the engine part from scratch)