In this document, we are going to explain the implementation of /API feature.
/API is Jariko's own new directive, an independent entity which can be used by different programs and it is able to include compilation units from other APIs.
It integrates in the CompilationUnit of the program that uses it, the CompilationUnit associated at the /API.
This allows Jariko to dynamically import only the things needed, without allocating in memory (SymbolTable) unused code.
This is possible thanks to the SystemInterface class, which uses the findApiDescriptor function to communicate API information to Jariko, such as the load api policy.
The load api policy can be:
- Static, Jariko always loads the API
- Dynamic, Jariko loads the API's CompilationUnit, if needed, during AST creation.
- Just in Time, Jariko loads the API, if needed, during the program interpretation.