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+\documentstyle[11pt,times]{article}
+
+\title{
+Interactively Testing Remote Servers Using the Python Programming Language
+}
+
+\author{
+ Guido van Rossum \\
+ CWI, dept. CST; Kruislaan 413 \\
+ 1098 SJ Amsterdam, The Netherlands \\
+ E-mail: {\tt guido@cwi.nl}
+\and
+ Jelke de Boer \\
+ HIO Enschede; P.O.Box 1326 \\
+ 7500 BH Enschede, The Netherlands
+}
+
+\begin{document}
+
+\maketitle
+
+\begin{abstract}
+This paper describes how two tools that were developed quite
+independently gained in power by a well-designed connection between
+them. The tools are Python, an interpreted prototyping language, and
+AIL, a Remote Procedure Call stub generator. The context is Amoeba, a
+well-known distributed operating system developed jointly by the Free
+University and CWI in Amsterdam.
+
+As a consequence of their integration, both tools have profited:
+Python gained usability when used with Amoeba --- for which it was not
+specifically developed --- and AIL users now have a powerful
+interactive tool to test servers and to experiment with new
+client/server interfaces.%
+\footnote{
+An earlier version of this paper was presented at the Spring 1991
+EurOpen Conference in Troms{\o} under the title ``Linking a Stub
+Generator (AIL) to a Prototyping Language (Python).''
+}
+\end{abstract}
+
+\section{Introduction}
+
+Remote Procedure Call (RPC) interfaces, used in distributed systems
+like Amoeba
+\cite{Amoeba:IEEE,Amoeba:CACM},
+have a much more concrete character than local procedure call
+interfaces in traditional systems. Because clients and servers may
+run on different machines, with possibly different word size, byte
+order, etc., much care is needed to describe interfaces exactly and to
+implement them in such a way that they continue to work when a client
+or server is moved to a different machine. Since machines may fail
+independently, error handling must also be treated more carefully.
+
+A common approach to such problems is to use a {\em stub generator}.
+This is a program that takes an interface description and transforms
+it into functions that must be compiled and linked with client and
+server applications. These functions are called by the application
+code to take care of details of interfacing to the system's RPC layer,
+to implement transformations between data representations of different
+machines, to check for errors, etc. They are called `stubs' because
+they don't actually perform the action that they are called for but
+only relay the parameters to the server
+\cite{RPC}.
+
+Amoeba's stub generator is called AIL, which stands for Amoeba
+Interface Language
+\cite{AIL}.
+The first version of AIL generated only C functions, but an explicit
+goal of AIL's design was {\em retargetability}: it should be possible
+to add back-ends that generate stubs for different languages from the
+same interface descriptions. Moreover, the stubs generated by
+different back-ends must be {\em interoperable}: a client written in
+Modula-3, say, should be able to use a server written in C, and vice
+versa.
+
+This interoperability is the key to the success of the marriage
+between AIL and Python. Python is a versatile interpreted language
+developed by the first author. Originally intended as an alternative
+for the kind of odd jobs that are traditionally solved by a mixture of
+shell scripts, manually given shell commands, and an occasional ad hoc
+C program, Python has evolved into a general interactive prototyping
+language. It has been applied to a wide range of problems, from
+replacements for large shell scripts to fancy graphics demos and
+multimedia applications.
+
+One of Python's strengths is the ability for the user to type in some
+code and immediately run it: no compilation or linking is necessary.
+Interactive performance is further enhanced by Python's concise, clear
+syntax, its very-high-level data types, and its lack of declarations
+(which is compensated by run-time type checking). All this makes
+programming in Python feel like a leisure trip compared to the hard
+work involved in writing and debugging even a smallish C program.
+
+It should be clear by now that Python will be the ideal tool to test
+servers and their interfaces. Especially during the development of a
+complex server, one often needs to generate test requests on an ad hoc
+basis, to answer questions like ``what happens if request X arrives
+when the server is in state Y,'' to test the behavior of the server
+with requests that touch its limitations, to check server responses to
+all sorts of wrong requests, etc. Python's ability to immediately
+execute `improvised' code makes it a much better tool for this
+situation than C.
+
+The link to AIL extends Python with the necessary functionality to
+connect to arbitrary servers, making the server testbed sketched above
+a reality. Python's high-level data types, general programming
+features, and system interface ensure that it has all the power and
+flexibility needed for the job.
+
+One could go even further than this. Current distributed operating
+systems, based on client-server interaction, all lack a good command
+language or `shell' to give adequate access to available services.
+Python has considerable potential for becoming such a shell.
+
+\subsection{Overview of this Paper}
+
+The rest of this paper contains three major sections and a conclusion.
+First an overview of the Python programming language is given. Next
+comes a short description of AIL, together with some relevant details
+about Amoeba. Finally, the design and construction of the link
+between Python and AIL is described in much detail. The conclusion
+looks back at the work and points out weaknesses and strengths of
+Python and AIL that were discovered in the process.
+
+\section{An Overview of Python}
+
+Python%
+\footnote{
+Named after the funny TV show, not the nasty reptile.
+}
+owes much to ABC
+\cite{ABC},
+a language developed at CWI as a programming language for non-expert
+computer users. Python borrows freely from ABC's syntax and data
+types, but adds modules, exceptions and classes, extensibility, and
+the ability to call system functions. The concepts of modules,
+exceptions and (to some extent) classes are influenced strongly by
+their occurrence in Modula-3
+\cite{Modula-3}.
+
+Although Python resembles ABC in many ways, there is a a clear
+difference in application domain. ABC is intended to be the only
+programming language for those who use a computer as a tool, but
+occasionally need to write a program. For this reason, ABC is not
+just a programming language but also a programming environment, which
+comes with an integrated syntax-directed editor and some source
+manipulation commands. Python, on the other hand, aims to be a tool
+for professional (system) programmers, for whom having a choice of
+languages with different feature sets makes it possible to choose `the
+right tool for the job.' The features added to Python make it more
+useful than ABC in an environment where access to system functions
+(such as file and directory manipulations) are common. They also
+support the building of larger systems and libraries. The Python
+implementation offers little in the way of a programming environment,
+but is designed to integrate seamlessly with existing programming
+environments (e.g. UNIX and Emacs).
+
+Perhaps the best introduction to Python is a short example. The
+following is a complete Python program to list the contents of a UNIX
+directory.
+\begin{verbatim}
+import sys, posix
+
+def ls(dirname): # Print sorted directory contents
+ names = posix.listdir(dirname)
+ names.sort()
+ for name in names:
+ if name[0] != '.': print name
+
+ls(sys.argv[1])
+\end{verbatim}
+The largest part of this program, in the middle starting with {\tt
+def}, is a function definition. It defines a function named {\tt ls}
+with a single parameter called {\tt dirname}. (Comments in Python
+start with `\#' and extend to the end of the line.) The function body
+is indented: Python uses indentation for statement grouping instead of
+braces or begin/end keywords. This is shorter to type and avoids
+frustrating mismatches between the perception of grouping by the user
+and the parser. Python accepts one statement per line; long
+statements may be broken in pieces using the standard backslash
+convention. If the body of a compound statement is a single, simple
+statement, it may be placed on the same line as the head.
+
+The first statement of the function body calls the function {\tt
+listdir} defined in the module {\tt posix}. This function returns a
+list of strings representing the contents of the directory name passed
+as a string argument, here the argument {\tt dirname}. If {\tt
+dirname} were not a valid directory name, or perhaps not even a
+string, {\tt listdir} would raise an exception and the next statement
+would never be reached. (Exceptions can be caught in Python; see
+later.) Assuming {\tt listdir} returns normally, its result is
+assigned to the local variable {\tt names}.
+
+The second statement calls the method {\tt sort} of the variable {\tt
+names}. This method is defined for all lists in Python and does the
+obvious thing: the elements of the list are reordered according to
+their natural ordering relationship. Since in our example the list
+contains strings, they are sorted in ascending ASCII order.
+
+The last two lines of the function contain a loop that prints all
+elements of the list whose first character isn't a period. In each
+iteration, the {\tt for} statement assigns an element of the list to
+the local variable {\tt name}. The {\tt print} statement is intended
+for simple-minded output; more elaborate formatting is possible with
+Python's string handling functions.
+
+The other two parts of the program are easily explained. The first
+line is an {\tt import} statement that tells the interpreter to import
+the modules {\tt sys} and {\tt posix}. As it happens these are both
+built into the interpreter. Importing a module (built-in or
+otherwise) only makes the module name available in the current scope;
+functions and data defined in the module are accessed through the dot
+notation as in {\tt posix.listdir}. The scope rules of Python are
+such that the imported module name {\tt posix} is also available in
+the function {\tt ls} (this will be discussed in more detail later).
+
+Finally, the last line of the program calls the {\tt ls} function with
+a definite argument. It must be last since Python objects must be
+defined before they can be used; in particular, the function {\tt ls}
+must be defined before it can be called. The argument to {\tt ls} is
+{\tt sys.argv[1]}, which happens to be the Python equivalent of {\tt
+\$1} in a shell script or {\tt argv[1]} in a C program's {\tt main}
+function.
+
+\subsection{Python Data Types}
+
+(This and the following subsections describe Python in quite a lot of
+detail. If you are more interested in AIL, Amoeba and how they are
+linked with Python, you can skip to section 3 now.)
+
+Python's syntax may not have big surprises (which is exactly as it
+should be), but its data types are quite different from what is found
+in languages like C, Ada or Modula-3. All data types in Python, even
+integers, are `objects'. All objects participate in a common garbage
+collection scheme (currently implemented using reference counting).
+Assignment is cheap, independent of object size and type: only a
+pointer to the assigned object is stored in the assigned-to variable.
+No type checking is performed on assignment; only specific operations
+like addition test for particular operand types.
+
+The basic object types in Python are numbers, strings, tuples, lists
+and dictionaries. Some other object types are open files, functions,
+modules, classes, and class instances; even types themselves are
+represented as objects. Extension modules written in C can define
+additional object types; examples are objects representing windows and
+Amoeba capabilities. Finally, the implementation itself makes heavy
+use of objects, and defines some private object types that aren't
+normally visible to the user. There is no explicit pointer type in
+Python.
+
+{\em Numbers}, both integers and floating point, are pretty
+straightforward. The notation for numeric literals is the same as in
+C, including octal and hexadecimal integers; precision is the same as
+{\tt long} or {\tt double} in C\@. A third numeric type, `long
+integer', written with an `L' suffix, can be used for arbitrary
+precision calculations. All arithmetic, shifting and masking
+operations from C are supported.
+
+{\em Strings} are `primitive' objects just like numbers. String
+literals are written between single quotes, using similar escape
+sequences as in C\@. Operations are built into the language to
+concatenate and to replicate strings, to extract substrings, etc.
+There is no limit to the length of the strings created by a program.
+There is no separate character data type; strings of length one do
+nicely.
+
+{\em Tuples} are a way to `pack' small amounts of heterogeneous data
+together and carry them around as a unit. Unlike structure members in
+C, tuple items are nameless. Packing and unpacking assignments allow
+access to the items, for example:
+\begin{verbatim}
+x = 'Hi', (1, 2), 'World' # x is a 3-item tuple,
+ # its middle item is (1, 2)
+p, q, r = x # unpack x into p, q and r
+a, b = q # unpack q into a and b
+\end{verbatim}
+A combination of packing and unpacking assignment can be used as
+parallel assignment, and is idiom for permutations, e.g.:
+\begin{verbatim}
+p, q = q, p # swap without temporary
+a, b, c = b, c, a # cyclic permutation
+\end{verbatim}
+Tuples are also used for function argument lists if there is more than
+one argument. A tuple object, once created, cannot be modified; but
+it is easy enough to unpack it and create a new, modified tuple from
+the unpacked items and assign this to the variable that held the
+original tuple object (which will then be garbage-collected).
+
+{\em Lists} are array-like objects. List items may be arbitrary
+objects and can be accessed and changed using standard subscription
+notation. Lists support item insertion and deletion, and can
+therefore be used as queues, stacks etc.; there is no limit to their
+size.
+
+Strings, tuples and lists together are {\em sequence} types. These
+share a common notation for generic operations on sequences such as
+subscription, concatenation, slicing (taking subsequences) and
+membership tests. As in C, subscripts start at 0.
+
+{\em Dictionaries} are `mappings' from one domain to another. The
+basic operations on dictionaries are item insertion, extraction and
+deletion, using subscript notation with the key as subscript. (The
+current implementation allows only strings in the key domain, but a
+future version of the language may remove this restriction.)
+
+\subsection{Statements}
+
+Python has various kinds of simple statements, such as assignments
+and {\tt print} statements, and several kinds of compound statements,
+like {\tt if} and {\tt for} statements. Formally, function
+definitions and {\tt import} statements are also statements, and there
+are no restrictions on the ordering of statements or their nesting:
+{\tt import} may be used inside a function, functions may be defined
+conditionally using an {\tt if} statement, etc. The effect of a
+declaration-like statement takes place only when it is executed.
+
+All statements except assignments and expression statements begin with
+a keyword: this makes the language easy to parse. An overview of the
+most common statement forms in Python follows.
+
+An {\em assignment} has the general form
+\vspace{\itemsep}
+
+\noindent
+{\em variable $=$ variable $= ... =$ variable $=$ expression}
+\vspace{\itemsep}
+
+It assigns the value of the expression to all listed variables. (As
+shown in the section on tuples, variables and expressions can in fact
+be comma-separated lists.) The assignment operator is not an
+expression operator; there are no horrible things in Python like
+\begin{verbatim}
+while (p = p->next) { ... }
+\end{verbatim}
+Expression syntax is mostly straightforward and will not be explained
+in detail here.
+
+An {\em expression statement} is just an expression on a line by
+itself. This writes the value of the expression to standard output,
+in a suitably unambiguous way, unless it is a `procedure call' (a
+function call that returns no value). Writing the value is useful
+when Python is used in `calculator mode', and reminds the programmer
+not to ignore function results.
+
+The {\tt if} statement allows conditional execution. It has optional
+{\tt elif} and {\tt else} parts; a construct like {\tt
+if...elif...elif...elif...else} can be used to compensate for the
+absence of a {\em switch} or {\em case} statement.
+
+Looping is done with {\tt while} and {\tt for} statements. The latter
+(demonstrated in the `ls' example earlier) iterates over the elements
+of a `sequence' (see the discussion of data types below). It is
+possible to terminate a loop with a {\tt break} statement or to start
+the next iteration with {\tt continue}. Both looping statements have
+an optional {\tt else} clause which is executed after the loop is
+terminated normally, but skipped when it is terminated by {\tt break}.
+This can be handy for searches, to handle the case that the item is
+not found.
+
+Python's {\em exception} mechanism is modelled after that of Modula-3.
+Exceptions are raised by the interpreter when an illegal operation is
+tried. It is also possible to explicitly raise an exception with the
+{\tt raise} statement:
+\vspace{\itemsep}
+
+\noindent
+{\tt raise {\em expression}, {\em expression}}
+\vspace{\itemsep}
+
+The first expression identifies which exception should be raised;
+there are several built-in exceptions and the user may define
+additional ones. The second, optional expression is passed to the
+handler, e.g. as a detailed error message.
+
+Exceptions may be handled (caught) with the {\tt try} statement, which
+has the following general form:
+\vspace{\itemsep}
+
+\noindent
+{\tt
+\begin{tabular}{l}
+try: {\em block} \\
+except {\em expression}, {\em variable}: {\em block} \\
+except {\em expression}, {\em variable}: {\em block} \\
+... \\
+except: {\em block}
+\end{tabular}
+}
+\vspace{\itemsep}
+
+When an exception is raised during execution of the first block, a
+search for an exception handler starts. The first {\tt except} clause
+whose {\em expression} matches the exception is executed. The
+expression may specify a list of exceptions to match against. A
+handler without an expression serves as a `catch-all'. If there is no
+match, the search for a handler continues with outer {\tt try}
+statements; if no match is found on the entire invocation stack, an
+error message and stack trace are printed, and the program is
+terminated (interactively, the interpreter returns to its main loop).
+
+Note that the form of the {\tt except} clauses encourages a style of
+programming whereby only selected exceptions are caught, passing
+unanticipated exceptions on to the caller and ultimately to the user.
+This is preferable over a simpler `catch-all' error handling
+mechanism, where a simplistic handler intended to catch a single type
+of error like `file not found' can easily mask genuine programming
+errors --- especially in a language like Python which relies strongly
+on run-time checking and allows the catching of almost any type of
+error.
+
+Other common statement forms, which we have already encountered, are
+function definitions, {\tt import} statements and {\tt print}
+statements. There is also a {\tt del} statement to delete one or more
+variables, a {\tt return} statement to return from a function, and a
+{\tt global} statement to allow assignments to global variables.
+Finally, the {\tt pass} statement is a no-op.
+
+\subsection{Execution Model}
+
+A Python program is executed by a stack-based interpreter.
+
+When a function is called, a new `execution environment' for it is
+pushed onto the stack. An execution environment contains (among other
+data) pointers to two `symbol tables' that are used to hold variables:
+the local and the global symbol table. The local symbol table
+contains local variables of the current function invocation (including
+the function arguments); the global symbol table contains variables
+defined in the module containing the current function.
+
+The `global' symbol table is thus only global with respect to the
+current function. There are no system-wide global variables; using
+the {\tt import} statement it is easy enough to reference variables
+that are defined in other modules. A system-wide read-only symbol
+table is used for built-in functions and constants though.
+
+On assignment to a variable, by default an entry for it is made in the
+local symbol table of the current execution environment. The {\tt
+global} command can override this (it is not enough that a global
+variable by the same name already exists). When a variable's value is
+needed, it is searched first in the local symbol table, then in the
+global one, and finally in the symbol table containing built-in
+functions and constants.
+
+The term `variable' in this context refers to any name: functions and
+imported modules are searched in exactly the same way.
+
+Names defined in a module's symbol table survive until the end of the
+program. This approximates the semantics of file-static global
+variables in C or module variables in Modula-3. A module is
+initialized the first time it is imported, by executing the text of
+the module as a parameterless function whose local and global symbol
+tables are the same, so names are defined in module's symbol table.
+(Modules implemented in C have another way to define symbols.)
+
+A Python main program is read from standard input or from a script
+file passed as an argument to the interpreter. It is executed as if
+an anonymous module was imported. Since {\tt import} statements are
+executed like all other statements, the initialization order of the
+modules used in a program is defined by the flow of control through
+the program.
+
+The `attribute' notation {\em m.name}, where {\em m} is a module,
+accesses the symbol {\em name} in that module's symbol table. It can
+be assigned to as well. This is in fact a special case of the
+construct {\em x.name} where {\em x} denotes an arbitrary object; the
+type of {\em x} determines how this is to be interpreted, and what
+assignment to it means.
+
+For instance, when {\tt a} is a list object, {\tt a.append} yields a
+built-in `method' object which, when called, appends an item to {\tt a}.
+(If {\tt a} and {\tt b} are distinct list objects, {\tt a.append} and
+{\tt b.append} are distinguishable method objects.) Normally, in
+statements like {\tt a.append(x)}, the method object {\tt a.append} is
+called and then discarded, but this is a matter of convention.
+
+List attributes are read-only --- the user cannot define new list
+methods. Some objects, like numbers and strings, have no attributes
+at all. Like all type checking in Python, the meaning of an attribute
+is determined at run-time --- when the parser sees {\em x.name}, it
+has no idea of the type of {\em x}. Note that {\em x} here does not
+have to be a variable --- it can be an arbitrary (perhaps
+parenthesized) expression.
+
+Given the flexibility of the attribute notation, one is tempted to use
+methods to replace all standard operations. Yet, Python has kept a
+small repertoire of built-in functions like {\tt len()} and {\tt
+abs()}. The reason is that in some cases the function notation is
+more familiar than the method notation; just like programs would
+become less readable if all infix operators were replaced by function
+calls, they would become less readable if all function calls had to be
+replaced by method calls (and vice versa!).
+
+The choice whether to make something a built-in function or a method
+is a matter of taste. For arithmetic and string operations, function
+notation is preferred, since frequently the argument to such an
+operation is an expression using infix notation, as in {\tt abs(a+b)};
+this definitely looks better than {\tt (a+b).abs()}. The choice
+between make something a built-in function or a function defined in a
+built-in method (requiring {\tt import}) is similarly guided by
+intuition; all in all, only functions needed by `general' programming
+techniques are built-in functions.
+
+\subsection{Classes}
+
+Python has a class mechanism distinct from the object-orientation
+already explained. A class in Python is not much more than a
+collection of methods and a way to create class instances. Class
+methods are ordinary functions whose first parameter is the class
+instance; they are called using the method notation.
+
+For instance, a class can be defined as follows:
+\begin{verbatim}
+class Foo:
+ def meth1(self, arg): ...
+ def meth2(self): ...
+\end{verbatim}
+A class instance is created by
+{\tt x = Foo()}
+and its methods can be called thus:
+\begin{verbatim}
+x.meth1('Hi There!')
+x.meth2()
+\end{verbatim}
+The functions used as methods are also available as attributes of the
+class object, and the above method calls could also have been written
+as follows:
+\begin{verbatim}
+Foo.meth1(x, 'Hi There!')
+Foo.meth2(x)
+\end{verbatim}
+Class methods can store instance data by assigning to instance data
+attributes, e.g.:
+\begin{verbatim}
+self.size = 100
+self.title = 'Dear John'
+\end{verbatim}
+Data attributes do not have to be declared; as with local variables,
+they spring into existence when assigned to. It is a matter of
+discretion to avoid name conflicts with method names. This facility
+is also available to class users; instances of a method-less class can
+be used as records with named fields.
+
+There is no built-in mechanism for instance initialization. Classes
+by convention provide an {\tt init()} method which initializes the
+instance and then returns it, so the user can write
+\begin{verbatim}
+x = Foo().init('Dr. Strangelove')
+\end{verbatim}
+
+Any user-defined class can be used as a base class to derive other
+classes. However, built-in types like lists cannot be used as base
+classes. (Incidentally, the same is true in C++ and Modula-3.) A
+class may override any method of its base classes. Instance methods
+are first searched in the method list of their class, and then,
+recursively, in the method lists of their base class. Initialization
+methods of derived classes should explicitly call the initialization
+methods of their base class.
+
+A simple form of multiple inheritance is also supported: a class can
+have multiple base classes, but the language rules for resolving name
+conflicts are somewhat simplistic, and consequently the feature has so
+far found little usage.
+
+\subsection{The Python Library}
+
+Python comes with an extensive library, structured as a collection of
+modules. A few modules are built into the interpreter: these
+generally provide access to system libraries implemented in C such as
+mathematical functions or operating system calls. Two built-in
+modules provide access to internals of the interpreter and its
+environment. Even abusing these internals will at most cause an
+exception in the Python program; the interpreter will not dump core
+because of errors in Python code.
+
+Most modules however are written in Python and distributed with the
+interpreter; they provide general programming tools like string
+operations and random number generators, provide more convenient
+interfaces to some built-in modules, or provide specialized services
+like a {\em getopt}-style command line option processor for
+stand-alone scripts.
+
+There are also some modules written in Python that dig deep in the
+internals of the interpreter; there is a module to browse the stack
+backtrace when an unhandled exception has occurred, one to disassemble
+the internal representation of Python code, and even an interactive
+source code debugger which can trace Python code, set breakpoints,
+etc.
+
+\subsection{Extensibility}
+
+It is easy to add new built-in modules written in C to the Python
+interpreter. Extensions appear to the Python user as built-in
+modules. Using a built-in module is no different from using a module
+written in Python, but obviously the author of a built-in module can
+do things that cannot be implemented purely in Python.
+
+In particular, built-in modules can contain Python-callable functions
+that call functions from particular system libraries (`wrapper
+functions'), and they can define new object types. In general, if a
+built-in module defines a new object type, it should also provide at
+least one function that creates such objects. Attributes of such
+object types are also implemented in C; they can return data
+associated with the object or methods, implemented as C functions.
+
+For instance, an extension was created for Amoeba: it provides wrapper
+functions for the basic Amoeba name server functions, and defines a
+`capability' object type, whose methods are file server operations.
+Another extension is a built-in module called {\tt posix}; it provides
+wrappers around post UNIX system calls. Extension modules also
+provide access to two different windowing/graphics interfaces: STDWIN
+\cite{STDWIN}
+(which connects to X11 on UNIX and to the Mac Toolbox on the
+Macintosh), and the Graphics Library (GL) for Silicon Graphics
+machines.
+
+Any function in an extension module is supposed to type-check its
+arguments; the interpreter contains a convenience function to
+facilitate extracting C values from arguments and type-checking them
+at the same time. Returning values is also painless, using standard
+functions to create Python objects from C values.
+
+On some systems extension modules may be dynamically loaded, thus
+avoiding the need to maintain a private copy of the Python interpreter
+in order to use a private extension.
+
+\section{A Short Description of AIL and Amoeba}
+
+An RPC stub generator takes an interface description as input. The
+designer of a stub generator has at least two choices for the input
+language: use a suitably restricted version of the target language, or
+design a new language. The first solution was chosen, for instance,
+by the designers of Flume, the stub generator for the Topaz
+distributed operating system built at DEC SRC
+\cite{Flume,Evolving}.
+
+Flume's one and only target language is Modula-2+ (the predecessor of
+Modula-3). Modula-2+, like Modula-N for any N, has an interface
+syntax that is well suited as a stub generator input language: an
+interface module declares the functions that are `exported' by a
+module implementation, with their parameter and return types, plus the
+types and constants used for the parameters. Therefore, the input to
+Flume is simply a Modula-2+ interface module. But even in this ideal
+situation, an RPC stub generator needs to know things about functions
+that are not stated explicitly in the interface module: for instance,
+the transfer direction of VAR parameters (IN, OUT or both) is not
+given. Flume solves this and other problems by a mixture of
+directives hidden in comments and a convention for the names of
+objects. Thus, one could say that the designers of Flume really
+created a new language, even though it looks remarkably like their
+target language.
+
+\subsection{The AIL Input Language}
+
+Amoeba uses C as its primary programming language. C function
+declarations (at least in `Classic' C) don't specify the types of
+the parameters, let alone their transfer direction. Using this as
+input for a stub generator would require almost all information for
+the stub generator to be hidden inside comments, which would require a
+rather contorted scanner. Therefore we decided to design the input
+syntax for Amoeba's stub generator `from scratch'. This gave us the
+liberty to invent proper syntax not only for the transfer direction of
+parameters, but also for variable-length arrays.
+
+On the other hand we decided not to abuse our freedom, and borrowed as
+much from C as we could. For instance, AIL runs its input through the
+C preprocessor, so we get macros, include files and conditional
+compilation for free. AIL's type declaration syntax is a superset of
+C's, so the user can include C header files to use the types declared
+there as function parameter types --- which are declared using
+function prototypes as in C++ or Standard C\@. It should be clear by
+now that AIL's lexical conventions are also identical to C's. The
+same is true for its expression syntax.
+
+Where does AIL differ from C, then? Function declarations in AIL are
+grouped in {\em classes}. Classes in AIL are mostly intended as a
+grouping mechanism: all functions implemented by a server are grouped
+together in a class. Inheritance is used to form new groups by adding
+elements to existing groups; multiple inheritance is supported to join
+groups together. Classes can also contain constant and type
+definitions, and one form of output that AIL can generate is a header
+file for use by C programmers who wish to use functions from a
+particular AIL class.
+
+Let's have a look at some (unrealistically simple) class definitions:
+\begin{verbatim}
+#include <amoeba.h> /* Defines `capability', etc. */
+
+class standard_ops [1000 .. 1999] {
+ /* Operations supported by most interfaces */
+ std_info(*, out char buf[size:100], out int size);
+ std_destroy(*);
+};
+\end{verbatim}
+This defines a class called `standard\_ops' whose request codes are
+chosen by AIL from the range 1000-1999. Request codes are small
+integers used to identify remote operations. The author of the class
+must specify a range from which AIL chooses, and class authors must
+make sure they avoid conflicts, e.g. by using an `assigned number
+administration office'. In the example, `std\_info' will be assigned
+request code 1000 and `std\_destroy' will get code 1001. There is
+also an option to explicitly assign request codes, for compatibility
+with servers with manually written interfaces.
+
+The class `standard\_ops' defines two operations, `std\_info' and
+`std\_destroy'. The first parameter of each operation is a star
+(`*'); this is a placeholder for a capability that must be passed when
+the operation is called. The description of Amoeba below explains the
+meaning and usage of capabilities; for now, it is sufficient to know
+that a capability is a small structure that uniquely identifies an
+object and a server or service.
+
+The standard operation `std\_info' has two output parameters: a
+variable-size character buffer (which will be filled with a short
+descriptive string of the object to which the operation is applied)
+and an integer giving the length of this string. The standard
+operation `std\_destroy' has no further parameters --- it just
+destroys the object, if the caller has the right to do so.
+
+The next class is called `tty':
+\begin{verbatim}
+class tty [2000 .. 2099] {
+ inherit standard_ops;
+ const TTY_MAXBUF = 1000;
+ tty_write(*, char buf[size:TTY_MAXBUF], int size);
+ tty_read(*, out char buf[size:TTY_MAXBUF], out int size);
+};
+\end{verbatim}
+The request codes for operations defined in this class lie in the
+range 2000-2099; inherited operations use the request codes already
+assigned to them. The operations defined by this class are
+`tty\_read' and `tty\_write', which pass variable-sized data buffers
+between client and server. Class `tty' inherits class
+`standard\_ops', so tty objects also support the operations
+`std\_info' and `std\_destroy'.
+
+Only the {\em interface} for `std\_info' and `std\_destroy' is shared
+between tty objects and other objects whose interface inherits
+`standard\_ops'; the implementation may differ. Even multiple
+implementations of the `tty' interface may exist, e.g. a driver for a
+console terminal and a terminal emulator in a window. To expand on
+the latter example, consider:
+\begin{verbatim}
+class window [2100 .. 2199] {
+ inherit standard_ops;
+ win_create(*, int x, int y, int width, int height,
+ out capability win_cap);
+ win_reconfigure(*, int x, int y, int width, int height);
+};
+
+class tty_emulator [2200 .. 2299] {
+ inherit tty, window;
+};
+\end{verbatim}
+Here two new interface classes are defined.
+Class `window' could be used for creating and manipulating windows.
+Note that `win\_create' returns a capability for the new window.
+This request should probably should be sent to a generic window
+server capability, or it might create a subwindow when applied to a
+window object.
+
+Class `tty\_emulator' demonstrates the essence of multiple inheritance.
+It is presumably the interface to a window-based terminal emulator.
+Inheritance is transitive, so `tty\_emulator' also implicitly inherits
+`standard\_ops'.
+In fact, it inherits it twice: once via `tty' and once via `window'.
+Since AIL class inheritance only means interface sharing, not
+implementation sharing, inheriting the same class multiple times is
+never a problem and has the same effect as inheriting it once.
+
+Note that the power of AIL classes doesn't go as far as C++.
+AIL classes cannot have data members, and there is
+no mechanism for a server that implements a derived class
+to inherit the implementation of the base
+class --- other than copying the source code.
+The syntax for class definitions and inheritance is also different.
+
+\subsection{Amoeba}
+
+The smell of `object-orientedness' that the use of classes in AIL
+creates matches nicely with Amoeba's object-oriented approach to
+RPC\@. In Amoeba, almost all operating system entities (files,
+directories, processes, devices etc.) are implemented as {\em
+objects}. Objects are managed by {\em services} and represented by
+{\em capabilities}. A capability gives its holder access to the
+object it represents. Capabilities are protected cryptographically
+against forgery and can thus be kept in user space. A capability is a
+128-bit binary string, subdivided as follows:
+
+% XXX Need a better version of this picture!
+\begin{verbatim}
+ 48 24 8 48 Bits
++----------------+------------+--------+---------------+
+| Service | Object | Perm. | Check |
+| port | number | bits | word |
++----------------+------------+--------+---------------+
+\end{verbatim}
+
+The service port is used by the RPC implementation in the Amoeba
+kernel to locate a server implementing the service that manages the
+object. In many cases there is a one-to-one correspondence between
+servers and services (each service is implemented by exactly one
+server process), but some services are replicated. For instance,
+Amoeba's directory service, which is crucial for gaining access to most
+other services, is implemented by two servers that listen on the same
+port and know about exactly the same objects.
+
+The object number in the capability is used by the server receiving
+the request for identifying the object to which the operation applies.
+The permission bits specify which operations the holder of the capability
+may apply. The last part of a capability is a 48-bit long `check
+word', which is used to prevent forgery. The check word is computed
+by the server based upon the permission bits and a random key per object
+that it keeps secret. If you change the permission bits you must compute
+the proper check word or else the server will refuse the capability.
+Due to the size of the check word and the nature of the cryptographic
+`one-way function' used to compute it, inverting this function is
+impractical, so forging capabilities is impossible.%
+\footnote{
+As computers become faster, inverting the one-way function becomes
+less impractical.
+Therefore, a next version of Amoeba will have 64-bit check words.
+}
+
+A working Amoeba system is a collection of diverse servers, managing
+files, directories, processes, devices etc. While most servers have
+their own interface, there are some requests that make sense for some
+or all object types. For instance, the {\em std\_info()} request,
+which returns a short descriptive string, applies to all object types.
+Likewise, {\em std\_destroy()} applies to files, directories and
+processes, but not to devices.
+
+Similarly, different file server implementations may want to offer the
+same interface for operations like {\em read()} and {\em write()} to
+their clients. AIL's grouping of requests into classes is ideally
+suited to describe this kind of interface sharing, and a class
+hierarchy results which clearly shows the similarities between server
+interfaces (not necessarily their implementations!).
+
+The base class of all classes defines the {\em std\_info()} request.
+Most server interfaces actually inherit a derived class that also
+defines {\em std\_destroy().} File servers inherit a class that
+defines the common operations on files, etc.
+
+\subsection{How AIL Works}
+
+The AIL stub generator functions in three phases:
+\begin{itemize}
+\item
+parsing,
+\item
+strategy determination,
+\item
+code generation.
+\end{itemize}
+
+{\bf Phase one} parses the input and builds a symbol table containing
+everything it knows about the classes and other definitions found in
+the input.
+
+{\bf Phase two} determines the strategy to use for each function
+declaration in turn and decides upon the request and reply message
+formats. This is not a simple matter, because of various optimization
+attempts. Amoeba's kernel interface for RPC requests takes a
+fixed-size header and one arbitrary-size buffer. A large part of the
+header holds the capability of the object to which the request is
+directed, but there is some space left for a few integer parameters
+whose interpretation is left up to the server. AIL tries to use these
+slots for simple integer parameters, for two reasons.
+
+First, unlike the buffer, header fields are byte-swapped by the RPC
+layer in the kernel if necessary, so it saves a few byte swapping
+instructions in the user code. Second, and more important, a common
+form of request transfers a few integers and one large buffer to or
+from a server. The {\em read()} and {\em write()} requests of most
+file servers have this form, for instance. If it is possible to place
+all integer parameters in the header, the address of the buffer
+parameter can be passed directly to the kernel RPC layer. While AIL
+is perfectly capable of handling requests that do not fit this format,
+the resulting code involves allocating a new buffer and copying all
+parameters into it. It is a top priority to avoid this copying
+(`marshalling') if at all possible, in order to maintain Amoeba's
+famous RPC performance.
+
+When AIL resorts to copying parameters into a buffer, it reorders them
+so that integers indicating the lengths of variable-size arrays are
+placed in the buffer before the arrays they describe, since otherwise
+decoding the request would be impossible. It also adds occasional
+padding bytes to ensure integers are aligned properly in the buffer ---
+this can speed up (un)marshalling.
+
+{\bf Phase three} is the code generator, or back-end. There are in
+fact many different back-ends that may be called in a single run to
+generate different types of output. The most important output types
+are header files (for inclusion by the clients of an interface),
+client stubs, and `server main loop' code. The latter decodes
+incoming requests in the server. The generated code depends on the
+programming language requested, and there are separate back-ends for
+each supported language.
+
+It is important that the strategy chosen by phase two is independent
+of the language requested for phase three --- otherwise the
+interoperability of servers and clients written in different languages
+would be compromised.
+
+\section{Linking AIL to Python}
+
+From the previous section it can be concluded that linking AIL to
+Python is a matter of writing a back-end for Python. This is indeed
+what we did.
+
+Considerable time went into the design of the back-end in order to
+make the resulting RPC interface for Python fit as smoothly as
+possible in Python's programming style. For instance, the issues of
+parameter transfer, variable-size arrays, error handling, and call
+syntax were all solved in a manner that favors ease of use in Python
+rather than strict correspondence with the stubs generated for C,
+without compromising network-level compatibility.
+
+\subsection{Mapping AIL Entities to Python}
+
+For each programming language that AIL is to support, a mapping must
+be designed between the data types in AIL and those in that language.
+Other aspects of the programming languages, such as differences in
+function call semantics, must also be taken care of.
+
+While the mapping for C is mostly straightforward, the mapping for
+Python requires a little thinking to get the best results for Python
+programmers.
+
+\subsubsection{Parameter Transfer Direction}
+
+Perhaps the simplest issue is that of parameter transfer direction.
+Parameters of functions declared in AIL are categorized as being of
+type {\tt in}, {\tt out} or {\tt in} {\tt out} (the same distinction
+as made in Ada). Python only has call-by-value parameter semantics;
+functions can return multiple values as a tuple. This means that,
+unlike the C back-end, the Python back-end cannot always generate
+Python functions with exactly the same parameter list as the AIL
+functions.
+
+Instead, the Python parameter list consists of all {\tt in} and {\tt
+in} {\tt out} parameters, in the order in which they occur in the AIL
+parameter list; similarly, the Python function returns a tuple
+containing all {\tt in} {\tt out} and {\tt out} parameters. In fact
+Python packs function parameters into a tuple as well, stressing the
+symmetry between parameters and return value. For example, a stub
+with this AIL parameter list:
+\begin{verbatim}
+(*, in int p1, in out int p2, in int p3, out int p4)
+\end{verbatim}
+will have the following parameter list and return values in Python:
+\begin{verbatim}
+(p1, p2, p3) -> (p2, p4)
+\end{verbatim}
+
+\subsubsection{Variable-size Entities}
+
+The support for variable-size objects in AIL is strongly guided by the
+limitations of C in this matter. Basically, AIL allows what is
+feasible in C: functions may have variable-size arrays as parameters
+(both input or output), provided their length is passed separately.
+In practice this is narrowed to the following rule: for each
+variable-size array parameter, there must be an integer parameter
+giving its length. (An exception for null-terminated strings is
+planned but not yet realized.)
+
+Variable-size arrays in AIL or C correspond to {\em sequences} in
+Python: lists, tuples or strings. These are much easier to use than
+their C counterparts. Given a sequence object in Python, it is always
+possible to determine its size: the built-in function {\tt len()}
+returns it. It would be annoying to require the caller of an RPC stub
+with a variable-size parameter to also pass a parameter that
+explicitly gives its size. Therefore we eliminate all parameters from
+the Python parameter list whose value is used as the size of a
+variable-size array. Such parameters are easily found: the array
+bound expression contains the name of the parameter giving its size.
+This requires the stub code to work harder (it has to recover the
+value for size parameters from the corresponding sequence parameter),
+but at least part of this work would otherwise be needed as well, to
+check that the given and actual sizes match.
+
+Because of the symmetry in Python between the parameter list and the
+return value of a function, the same elimination is performed on
+return values containing variable-size arrays: integers returned
+solely to tell the client the size of a returned array are not
+returned explicitly to the caller in Python.
+
+\subsubsection{Error Handling}
+
+Another point where Python is really better than C is the issue of
+error handling. It is a fact of life that everything involving RPC
+may fail, for a variety of reasons outside the user's control: the
+network may be disconnected, the server may be down, etc. Clients
+must be prepared to handle such failures and recover from them, or at
+least print an error message and die. In C this means that every
+function returns an error status that must be checked by the caller,
+causing programs to be cluttered with error checks --- or worse,
+programs that ignore errors and carry on working with garbage data.
+
+In Python, errors are generally indicated by exceptions, which can be
+handled out of line from the main flow of control if necessary, and
+cause immediate program termination (with a stack trace) if ignored.
+To profit from this feature, all RPC errors that may be encountered by
+AIL-generated stubs in Python are turned into exceptions. An extra
+value passed together with the exception is used to relay the error
+code returned by the server to the handler. Since in general RPC
+failures are rare, Python test programs can usually ignore exceptions
+--- making the program simpler --- without the risk of occasional
+errors going undetected. (I still remember the embarrassment a
+hundredfold speed improvement reported, long, long, ago, about a new
+version of a certain program, which later had to be attributed to a
+benchmark that silently dumped core...)
+
+\subsubsection{Function Call Syntax}
+
+Amoeba RPC operations always need a capability parameter (this is what
+the `*' in the AIL function templates stands for); the service is
+identified by the port field of the capability. In C, the capability
+must always be the first parameter of the stub function, but in Python
+we can do better.
+
+A Python capability is an opaque object type in its own right, which
+is used, for instance, as parameter to and return value from Amoeba's
+name server functions. Python objects can have methods, so it is
+convenient to make all AIL-generated stubs methods of capabilities
+instead of just functions. Therefore, instead of writing
+\begin{verbatim}
+some_stub(cap, other_parameters)
+\end{verbatim}
+as in C, Python programmers can write
+\begin{verbatim}
+cap.some_stub(other_parameters)
+\end{verbatim}
+This is better because it reduces name conflicts: in Python, no
+confusion is possible between a stub and a local or global variable or
+user-defined function with the same name.
+
+\subsubsection{Example}
+
+All the preceding principles can be seen at work in the following
+example. Suppose a function is declared in AIL as follows:
+\begin{verbatim}
+some_stub(*, in char buf[size:1000], in int size,
+ out int n_done, out int status);
+\end{verbatim}
+In C it might be called by the following code (including declarations,
+for clarity, but not initializations):
+\begin{verbatim}
+int err, n_done, status;
+capability cap;
+char buf[500];
+...
+err = some_stub(&cap, buf, sizeof buf, &n_done, &status);
+if (err != 0) return err;
+printf("%d done; status = %d\n", n_done, status);
+\end{verbatim}
+Equivalent code in Python might be the following:
+\begin{verbatim}
+cap = ...
+buf = ...
+n_done, status = cap.some_stub(buf)
+print n_done, 'done;', 'status =', status
+\end{verbatim}
+No explicit error check is required in Python: if the RPC fails, an
+exception is raised so the {\tt print} statement is never reached.
+
+\subsection{The Implementation}
+
+More or less orthogonal to the issue of how to map AIL operations to
+the Python language is the question of how they should be implemented.
+
+In principle it would be possible to use the same strategy that is
+used for C: add an interface to Amoeba's low-level RPC primitives to
+Python and generate Python code to marshal parameters into and out of
+a buffer. However, Python's high-level data types are not well suited
+for marshalling: byte-level operations are clumsy and expensive, with
+the result that marshalling a single byte of data can take several
+Python statements. This would mean that a large amount of code would
+be needed to implement a stub, which would cost a lot of time to parse
+and take up a lot of space in `compiled' form (as parse tree or pseudo
+code). Execution of the marshalling code would be sluggish as well.
+
+We therefore chose an alternate approach, writing the marshalling in
+C, which is efficient at such byte-level operations. While it is easy
+enough to generate C code that can be linked with the Python
+interpreter, it would obviously not stimulate the use of Python for
+server testing if each change to an interface required relinking the
+interpreter (dynamic loading of C code is not yet available on
+Amoeba). This is circumvented by the following solution: the
+marshalling is handled by a simple {\em virtual machine}, and AIL
+generates instructions for this machine. An interpreter for the
+machine is linked into the Python interpreter and reads its
+instructions from a file written by AIL.
+
+The machine language for our virtual machine is dubbed {\em Stubcode}.
+Stubcode is a super-specialized language. There are two sets of of
+about a dozen instructions each: one set marshals Python objects
+representing parameters into a buffer, the other set (similar but not
+quite symmetric) unmarshals results from a buffer into Python objects.
+The Stubcode interpreter uses a stack to hold Python intermediate
+results. Other state elements are an Amoeba header and buffer, a
+pointer indicating the current position in the buffer, and of course a
+program counter. Besides (un)marshalling, the virtual machine must
+also implement type checking, and raise a Python exception when a
+parameter does not have the expected type.
+
+The Stubcode interpreter marshals Python data types very efficiently,
+since each instruction can marshal a large amount of data. For
+instance, a whole Python string is marshalled by a single Stubcode
+instruction, which (after some checking) executes the most efficient
+byte-copying loop possible --- it calls {\tt memcpy()}.
+
+
+Construction details of the Stubcode interpreter are straightforward.
+Most complications are caused by the peculiarities of AIL's strategy
+module and Python's type system. By far the most complex single
+instruction is the `loop' instruction, which is used to marshal
+arrays.
+
+As an example, here is the complete Stubcode program (with spaces and
+comments added for clarity) generated for the function {\tt
+some\_stub()} of the example above. The stack contains pointers to
+Python objects, and its initial contents is the parameter to the
+function, the string {\tt buf}. The final stack contents will be the
+function return value, the tuple {\tt (n\_done, status)}. The name
+{\tt header} refers to the fixed size Amoeba RPC header structure.
+\vspace{1em}
+
+{\tt
+\begin{tabular}{l l l}
+BufSize & 1000 & {\em Allocate RPC buffer of 1000 bytes} \\
+Dup & 1 & {\em Duplicate stack top} \\
+StringS & & {\em Replace stack top by its string size} \\
+PutI & h\_extra int32 & {\em Store top element in }header.h\_extra \\
+TStringSlt & 1000 & {\em Assert string size less than 1000} \\
+PutVS & & {\em Marshal variable-size string} \\
+ & & \\
+Trans & 1234 & {\em Execute the RPC (request code 1234)} \\
+ & & \\
+GetI & h\_extra int32 & {\em Push integer from} header.h\_extra \\
+GetI & h\_size int32 & {\em Push integer from} header.h\_size \\
+Pack & 2 & {\em Pack top 2 elements into a tuple} \\
+\end{tabular}
+}
+\vspace{1em}
+
+As much work as possible is done by the Python back-end in AIL, rather
+than in the Stubcode interpreter, to make the latter both simple and
+fast. For instance, the decision to eliminate an array size parameter
+from the Python parameter list is taken by AIL, and Stubcode
+instructions are generated to recover the size from the actual
+parameter and to marshal it properly. Similarly, there is a special
+alignment instruction (not used in the example) to meet alignment
+requirements.
+
+Communication between AIL and the Stubcode generator is via the file
+system. For each stub function, AIL creates a file in its output
+directory, named after the stub with a specific suffix. This file
+contains a machine-readable version of the Stubcode program for the
+stub. The Python user can specify a search path containing
+directories which the interpreter searches for a Stubcode file the
+first time the definition for a particular stub is needed.
+
+The transformations on the parameter list and data types needed to map
+AIL data types to Python data types make it necessary to help the
+Python programmer a bit in figuring out the parameters to a call.
+Although in most cases the rules are simple enough, it is sometimes
+hard to figure out exactly what the parameter and return values of a
+particular stub are. There are two sources of help in this case:
+first, the exception contains enough information so that the user can
+figure what type was expected; second, AIL's Python back-end
+optionally generates a human-readable `interface specification' file.
+
+\section{Conclusion}
+
+We have succeeded in creating a useful extension to Python that
+enables Amoeba server writers to test and experiment with their server
+in a much more interactive manner. We hope that this facility will
+add to the popularity of AIL amongst Amoeba programmers.
+
+Python's extensibility was proven convincingly by the exercise
+(performed by the second author) of adding the Stubcode interpreter to
+Python. Standard data abstraction techniques are used to insulate
+extension modules from details of the rest of the Python interpreter.
+In the case of the Stubcode interpreter this worked well enough that
+it survived a major overhaul of the main Python interpreter virtually
+unchanged.
+
+On the other hand, adding a new back-end to AIL turned out to be quite
+a bit of work. One problem, specific to Python, was to be expected:
+Python's variable-size data types differ considerably from the
+C-derived data model that AIL favors. Two additional problems we
+encountered were the complexity of the interface between AIL's second
+and third phases, and a number of remaining bugs in the second phase
+that surfaced when the implementation of the Python back-end was
+tested. The bugs have been tracked down and fixed, but nothing
+has been done about the complexity of the interface.
+
+\subsection{Future Plans}
+
+AIL's C back-end generates server main loop code as well as client
+stubs. The Python back-end currently only generates client stubs, so
+it is not yet possible to write servers in Python. While it is
+clearly more important to be able to use Python as a client than as a
+server, the ability to write server prototypes in Python would be a
+valuable addition: it allows server designers to experiment with
+interfaces in a much earlier stage of the design, with a much smaller
+programming effort. This makes it possible to concentrate on concepts
+first, before worrying about efficient implementation.
+
+The unmarshalling done in the server is almost symmetric with the
+marshalling in the client, and vice versa, so relative small
+extensions to the Stubcode virtual machine will allow its use in a
+server main loop. We hope to find the time to add this feature to a
+future version of Python.
+
+\section{Availability}
+
+The Python source distribution is available to Internet users by
+anonymous ftp to site {\tt ftp.cwi.nl} [IP address 192.16.184.180]
+from directory {\tt /pub}, file name {\tt python*.tar.Z} (where the
+{\tt *} stands for a version number). This is a compressed UNIX tar
+file containing the C source and \LaTeX documentation for the Python
+interpreter. It includes the Python library modules and the {\em
+Stubcode} interpreter, as well as many example Python programs. Total
+disk space occupied by the distribution is about 3 Mb; compilation
+requires 1-3 Mb depending on the configuration built, the compile
+options, etc.
+
+\bibliographystyle{plain}
+
+\bibliography{quabib}
+
+\end{document}
diff --git a/Doc/quabib.bib b/Doc/quabib.bib
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..97b93f6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Doc/quabib.bib
@@ -0,0 +1,139 @@
+@inproceedings{bult:usenix91,
+ title = "A Structure for Transportable, Dynamic Multimedia Documents",
+ author = "Dick C.A. Bulterman
+ and Guido van Rossum
+ and Robert van Liere",
+ booktitle = "Proceedings of the 1991 Summer USENIX Conference",
+ publisher = "The USENIX Association",
+ year = "1991",
+}
+
+@techreport{bult:gogh90,
+ title = "The {CWI} van {G}ogh Multimedia Research Project: Goals
+ and Objectives",
+ author = "Dick C.A. Bulterman",
+ institution = "CWI",
+ year = "1990",
+ number = "CST-90.1004",
+}
+
+@article{Amoeba:IEEE,
+ title = "{A}moeba: A Distributed Operating System for the 1990s",
+ author = "S.J. Mullender
+ and G. van Rossum
+ and A.S. Tanenbaum
+ and R. van Renesse
+ and J.M. van Staveren",
+ journal = "IEEE Computer Magazine",
+ volume = "23",
+ number = "5",
+ month = "May",
+ year = "1990",
+ pages = "44-53",
+}
+
+@article{Amoeba:CACM,
+ title = "Experiences with the {A}moeba Distributed Operating System",
+ author = "A.S. Tanenbaum
+and R. van Renesse
+and J.M. van Staveren
+and G.J. Sharp
+and S.J. Mullender
+and A.J. Jansen
+and G. van Rossum",
+journal = "Communications of the ACM",
+volume = "33",
+number = "12",
+month = "December",
+year ="1990",
+pages = "46-63",
+}
+
+@inproceedings{AIL,
+title = "{AIL} --- A Class-Oriented Stub Generator for {A}moeba",
+author = "G. van Rossum",
+editor = {E W. Schr\"{o}der-Preikschat
+and E. W. Zimmer},
+booktitle = "Workshop on Progress in Distributed Operating Systems and Distributed Systems Management",
+publisher = "Springer Verlag",
+series = "Lecture Notes in Computer Science",
+volume = "433",
+year = "1990",
+pages = "13-21",
+}
+
+@techreport{STDWIN,
+title = "{STDWIN} --- A Standard Window System Interface",
+author = "G. van Rossum",
+number = "CS-R8817",
+institution = "CWI",
+address = "Amsterdam",
+month = "April",
+year = "1988",
+}
+
+@book{ABC,
+title = "{ABC} Programmer's Handbook",
+author = "Leo Geurts
+and Lambert Meertens
+and Steven Pemberton",
+publisher = "Prentice-Hall",
+address = "London",
+year = "1990",
+note = "ISBN 0-13-000027-2",
+}
+
+@manual{Flume,
+title = "{F}lume --- Remote Procedure Call Stub Generator for {M}odula-2+",
+author = "A.D. Birrell
+and E.D. Lazowska
+and E. Wobber",
+organization = "DEC SRC",
+address = "Palo Alto, CA",
+year = "1987",
+note = "(Topaz manual page)",
+}
+
+@techreport{Evolving,
+title = "Evolving the {UNIX} System Interface to Support Multithreaded Programs",
+author = "P.R. McJones
+and G.F. Swart",
+number = "21",
+institution = "DEC SRC",
+address = "Palo Alto, CA",
+month = "September",
+year = "1987",
+}
+
+@inproceedings{Tcl,
+title = "{T}cl: an Embeddable Command Language",
+author = "John K. Ousterhout",
+booktitle = "Proceedings of the Winter 1990 USENIX Conference",
+publisher = "USENIX Association",
+address = "Washington, DC",
+month = "January",
+year = "1990",
+pages = "133-146",
+}
+
+@article{RPC,
+title = "Implementing Remote Procedure Calls",
+author = "A. D. Birrell
+and B. J. Nelson",
+journal = "ACM Transactions on Computer Systems",
+volume = "2",
+number = "1",
+month = "February",
+year = "1984",
+pages = "39-59",
+}
+
+@techreport{Modula-3,
+title = "{M}odula-3 Report (revised)",
+author = "Luca Cardelli et al.",
+number = "52",
+institution = "DEC SRC",
+address = "Palo Alto, CA",
+month = "November",
+year = "1989",
+}