Language Interoperability Issues in the Integration of Heterogeneous Systems

Heterogeneity and consequently interoperability, has become fundamental to large system development and integration. We investigated language interoperability issues in an attempt to integrate two tools written in different languages. We required capabilities such as access to data in both languages, coordination of transactions between languages, and the signaling of events between the languages, among others. These kinds of functionality are typical of advanced heterogeneous applications. We found, however, that current interoperability mechanisms did not provide sufficient support because they tend to focus on a particular domain, e.g., types, events, or transactions. Interoperability between languages depends on the resolution of semantic differences and coordination of functionality in many different domains, such as data, persistence, events and triggers, consistency, and transactions. Interoperability is further complicated by semantic and functional interdependencies within languages.