Parrot Virtual Machine/Extensions

Extending Parrot

Parrot is not just an executable VM, it's a dynamically-linkable library that exports a Parrot API. The API allows add-ons to be developed to extend the functionality of Parrot.

There are two basic APIs or, more specifically, a single API that can be divided into two distinct categories: Those that have access to the internals of Parrot, and those that do not. In general, most extensions will not need deep internal access to Parrot's structures, and most should not rely on them. Parrot's internal structures are subject to change, and relying on a precise format of one for your extension could cause compatibility problems later on.