Multi-Lingual Development & Programming Languages Interoperability: An Empirical Study

Abstract: As part of a research on a novel in-process multiprogramming-language interoperability system, this study investigates the interoperability and usage of multiple programming languages within a large dataset of GitHub projects and Stack Overflow Q&A. It addresses existing multi-lingual development practices and interactions between programming languages, focusing on in-process multi-programming language interoperability. The research examines a dataset of 414,486 GitHub repositories, 22,156,001 Stack Overflow questions from 2008-2021 and 173 interoperability tools. The paper's contributions include a comprehensive dataset, large-scale analysis, and insights into the prevalence, dominant languages, interoperability tools, and related issues in multi-language programming. The paper presents the research results, shows that C is a central pillar in programming language interoperability, and outlines \emph{simple interoperability} guidelines. These findings and guidelines contribute to our multi-programming language interoperability system research, also laying the groundwork for other systems and tools by suggesting key features for future interoperability tools.