Re: [OT] ABI vs. API
On Wed, 4 Feb 2004 12:20:48 -0700
"Monique Y. Herman" <spam@bounceswoosh.org> wrote:
> I'm a bit confused, I guess. What's the difference between an API
> (Application programmer interface) and an ABI (application binary
> interface)? In both cases, they seem to be libraries used by developers
> to do stuff.
In the interest of completeness, I'd like to point out that an ABI
defines much more than a list of functions and their signatures. It
will also cover such details as data layout (in memory), stack layout,
argument passing conventions, etc. The next time you're wondering about
the order of bit fields in memory, consider looking it up in the ABI
spec.
Some example specs are available at: http://www.sparc.com/standards.html
You should be able to find info on other processors by googling "psABI".
-g
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