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| Authored by: Anonymous on Wednesday, May 23 2012 @ 07:57 PM EDT |
That's precisely Oracle's argument, actually. Google's the one arguing that this
case is controlling, since APIs are just like the ABIs at issue in this case.[ Reply to This | Parent | # ]
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| Authored by: PJ on Thursday, May 24 2012 @ 12:30 AM EDT |
So, what do you use to talk to the BIOS? Isn't
there an interface? [ Reply to This | Parent | # ]
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| Authored by: Ian Al on Thursday, May 24 2012 @ 05:25 AM EDT |
However, you can write down the specification of the ABI so that programmers can
use it.
Whereas, an API clearly has a physical existence. You don't need some idiot to
write down the specification like you do for an ABI because the API is a real
physical thing and you can just look at it and know where to plug your program
into it.
Oh, wait a minute, the API is not actually in the computer. That's all binary
stuff. The API only explains how to get one's program to access the items in the
library of functions.
So, in the computer both APIs and ABIs are just jumps to program code and
passing of data. Except that the ABI is actually visible in the patterns in
memory, if you know where to look. And the API cannot be seen in the computer at
all because it is just a way of explaining how to use the binary library code.
So the ABI has a physical existence and the API does not. A programmer needs to
have a specification for both of them in order to use them. The API is written
for higher level computer languages and the ABI is written for low level
languages although they can be accessed whenever any support for low level
programming is provided within high level languages.
If you do not have the written specification, then you have to reverse engineer
both of them. That gives you the ABI form. If you want to use that directly from
a high level computer language, then you have to derive your own API from first
principles based on the binary interface. In the alternative, it is legal to
copy copyright stuff that helps you access API functionality. That's what the
case in point, says.
It is possible to write an API for most ABIs and programming languages.
---
Regards
Ian Al
Software Patents: It's the disclosed functions in the patent, stupid![ Reply to This | Parent | # ]
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