Language Interoperability for High-Performance Parallel Scientific Components

Component technologies offer a promising approach for managing the increasing complexity and interdisciplinary nature of high-performance scientific applications. Language interoperability is required for components written in different languages to communicate. In this paper, we present an approach to language interoperability for high-performance parallel components. Based on Interface Definition Language (IDL) techniques, we have developed a Scientific IDL (SIDL) that focuses on the abstractions and performance requirements of the scientific domain. We are developing a SIDL compiler and the associated run-time support for reference counting, reflection, object management, and basic exception handling. The SIDL approach has been validated for a scientific linear solver library. Initial timing results indicate that the performance overhead is minimal (less than 1%), whereas the savings in development time for interoperable software libraries can be substantial.