Rust- FFI (Foreign Function Interface)

Foreign Function Interface (FFI) is a mechanism that allows code written in one language to call code written in another language. With FFI, a program can use libraries and capabilities from another language, often allowing for performance optimizations or the use of specific features not available in the original language.

In the context of Rust, FFI is used for calling functions written in other languages, such as C or C++, or allowing code from other languages to call Rust functions. Rust provides a variety of tools and features to facilitate this interaction.

For instance, if you have a function defined in C, you can use Rust’s FFI to call it like so:

extern "C" {
    fn abs(input: i32) -> i32;
}

fn main() {
    unsafe {
        println!("Absolute value of -3 according to C: {}", abs(-3));
    }
}

In the above code, the extern "C" block is defining an interface to a C function, and then we’re calling that function within an unsafe block. This is typically considered an unsafe operation as Rust can’t guarantee the safety of external functions.

Similarly, you can expose Rust functions to other languages:

#[no_mangle]
pub extern "C" fn call_from_c() {
    println!("Just called a Rust function from C!");
}

In the code above, pub extern "C" is defining a Rust function with a C interface, and #[no_mangle] tells the Rust compiler not to change the name of the function, allowing it to be found from other languages.

In conclusion, while Rust’s safety and expressiveness often make it possible to avoid FFI, it remains a powerful tool when you need to use libraries from other languages or perform certain performance optimizations.