[gmpi] Re: Topic 3: Cross platform

Since discussion on this point seems to have wound down, I'll take a stab at
summarizing:

1. What processors (or processor architectures) are to be supported?

The API should fully support 64 bit processors, and either be portable to
such processors or explicitly utilize 64 types where possible.  Also,
standard ANSI C type names should be used instead of platform-specific type
names such as DWORD.  


2. What operating systems are to be supported?

In general, all popular contemporary O/S, leaning towards more recent
versions: Windows 2000, Windows XP, Mac OS-X, Linux, other Unix variants,
Windows CE, Palm O/S, BeOS.

The specification should explain the ramifications of making platform
specific calls in functional areas where poor choices can degrade system
performance, specifically memory allocation, threading/synchronization, and
disk I/O.  The working group needs to determine the mechanism whereby
plugins gain access to these services while still being able to
cross-compile into other plaforms and environments.  These services may be
provided as part of GMPI itself, or as a separate cross-platform library.


3. What kinds of addressing models are to be supported?

The plugin and the host are assumed to share the same memory address space.
If a plugin needs to run in another space, i.e. out of process or an an
external DSP accelerator, it is the plugins responsibility to perform the
necessary translations on its side of the interface.


4. What programming languages are to be supported?

ANSI C (which supports C++ by extension), with very clearly specified
application binary interface (ABI).  The actual calling convention may vary
from platform to platform, though the "default" calling convention is ANSI
C.

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