Is it possible to create PHP extensions in Haskell?

Question

Is it possible to create PHP extensions with Haskell?

Usually PHP extensions are written using C. Is using Haskell FFI to provide functionality for a stub C extension possible (or even a good idea)?

What are the caveats to such an approach? Does Zend perform some magic in the background that would disrupt such a scheme?

Spice

Oh the haskell fanboys will love this idea! – Deeplaid

We do, but not quite as much as replacing PHP with Haskell – Instruct

Answer 1

You can certainly do this, though I'm not sure anyone has tried. Haskell interoperates with C via its FFI mechanism, and you can certainly:

• Call Haskell from C

so if you can call C from PHP, and that C calls Haskell, you're in business.

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Why would you want to do this? Faster, safer, simple code for your core algorithms or safety-critical code, perhaps. Or to take advantage of say, a parallel or multicore server backend via Haskell.

Caroche

Well in this case, because I already have a Haskell program that I currently call using shell_exec from PHP. Now we are moving towards PHP extensions, so I am trying to save the existing codebase (atleast in the short run before I have had a chance to convert it to C). Not to mention how much more painful C is compared to Haskell (or anything for that matter). – Spice

Answer 2

Yes, its possible. Just make sure you wrap everything and translate arguments between php -> c -> haskell and the way back correctly.

Barksdale