Automated source-to-source translation from Java to C++
Jacek Sieka · KTH Publication Database DiVA (KTH Royal Institute of Technology) · 2012
Reuse of Java libraries and interoperability with platform native components has traditionally been limited to the application programming interface offered by the reference implementation of Java, the Java Native Interface. In this thesis the feasibility of another approach, automated source-to-source translation from Java to C++, is examined starting with a survey of the current research. Using the Java Language Specification as guide, translations for the constructs of the Java language are proposed, focusing on and taking advantage of the syntactic and semantic similarities between the two languages. Based on these translations, a tool for automatically translating Java source code to C++ has been developed and is presented in the text. Experimentation shows that a simple application and the core Java libraries it depends on can automatically be translated, producing equal output when built and run. The resulting source code is readable and maintainable, and therefore suitable as a starting point for further development in C++. With the fully automated process described, source-to-source translation becomes a viable alternative when facing a need for functionality already implemented in a Java library or application, saving considerable resources that would otherwise have to be spent rewriting the code manually.