kotlin-fork/native/objcexport-header-generator/ReadMe.md

ObjC Export Header generator

This tool is used for 'translating' Kotlin code into ObjC 'stubs' and ultimately rendering ObjC header files.

Usage

CLI: Building .framework files

The CLI will use this module for building the corresponding .framework binaries from Kotlin. This method will operate on previously built .klib binaries (with fully validated frontend). The 'klibs' will be deserialized and headers and bridges between Kotlin and ObjC will be built. This mode currently operates on K1 based descriptors

IDE: Providing Kotlin <-> ObjC/Swift cross language support

In order for Fleet to provide tooling that is capable of refactoring symbols between Kotlin and ObjC, this tool is used.

Example:

given the following Kotlin code

@ObjCName("FooObjC")
class Foo

and the following Swift usage

func bar() {
    FooObjC()
}

refactoring inside either Kotlin or Swift will be consistent across Kotlin and Swift.

Two Implementations (K1, Analysis Api)

There are currently two implementations for this tool

K1

This is the K1 (descriptor based) implementation that is currently used by the CLI and K1 based IDEs.

Analysis Api (WiP)

This implementation is currently 'work in progress' and shall replace the K1 usage in the IDE later. This implementation could theoretically also replace the K1 implementation if necessary.

Testing

Run all tests

./gradlew :native:objcexport-header-generator:check

The most important test is ObjCExportHeaderGeneratorTest.kt as this test defines the contract of how a header shall be generated from a given Kotlin input. This test can run against both implementations.

./gradlew :native:objcexport-header-generator:testK1
./gradlew :native:objcexport-header-generator:testAnalysisApi

Note: Since the Analysis Api implementation is WIP yet, this test can be used for debugging, but is not fully implemented yet.