jParser

jParser

Generate Java bindings for C/C++ libraries across desktop, mobile, web, and native TeaVM applications.

Overview

jParser turns a shared Java API, WebIDL definitions, and embedded native code blocks into bindings for multiple runtimes:

Target	Bridge	Platforms	Java requirement
JNI	Java Native Interface	Windows, Linux, macOS, Android	Java 8+ API
FFM	Foreign Function & Memory API	Windows, Linux, macOS	Java 22+; 25 recommended
TeaVM web	JavaScript / WebAssembly	Web browsers	Java 17+ tooling
TeaVM C	TeaVM native C imports	Windows, Linux, macOS, Android, iOS	Java 17+ tooling

A typical project has a hand-written base API and builder configuration. jParser generates the bridge-agnostic core API and target implementations, then invokes the appropriate native toolchain to build or package platform artifacts. For iOS TeaVM C, jParser produces static library slices and portable CMake resources; the application framework or consumer owns the launcher, Xcode project, bundle metadata, signing, and final app packaging.

Web builds use Emscripten and TeaVM.

Repository development is fully local: the root build owns the jParser modules and the :gradle-plugin project. The plugin compiles against the local gen-build, gen-idl, and gen-build-tool projects. The plugin validation fixtures use the separate examples/settings.gradle.kts consumer build, which includes the root build for plugin resolution. Changing the generator, plugin, and fixtures together therefore requires no Maven publication.

Quick Start

examples/TestLib is the smallest complete project to follow. From the repository root, a Windows JNI build is:

.\gradlew.bat :jParser:runtime:builder:runtime_helper_build_project_windows64_jni
.\gradlew.bat :examples:TestLib:lib:builder:TestLib_build_project_windows64_jni
.\gradlew.bat :examples:TestLib:app:platforms:desktop-jni:TestLib_run_app_desktop_jni

Use ./gradlew on Linux or macOS. See the getting-started guide for the module layout and FFM example, or the command reference for every platform target.

Requirements

Install only the toolchains required by the targets you build:

Requirement	Used for
JDK 11+	Core jParser tooling
JDK 17+	TeaVM web and TeaVM C tooling
JDK 22+ (25 recommended)	FFM modules and applications
Visual Studio C++	Windows native builds
GCC / G++	Linux native builds
Xcode command-line tools	macOS and iOS native builds
Android NDK	Android native builds
Emscripten SDK	Web JavaScript/WebAssembly builds

Windows builds auto-detect vcvarsall.bat from VCVARSALL_PATH, JPARSER_VCVARSALL, PATH, Visual Studio environment variables, or vswhere.exe. Override it with -Djparser.vcvarsall=<path> when necessary.

Documentation

Guide	Contents
Getting started	Project layout and the first TestLib builds
Binding authoring	Native directive blocks, WebIDL, and IDLBase ownership
TeaVM C	Linkage modes, packaged dependencies, consumer metadata, and MSVC runtime selection
Command reference	Build, run, packaging, and benchmark commands
Architecture	Generator pipeline, module map, and runtime internals
Runtime Maven artifacts	Published modules, classifiers, and native resource layouts
Contributor workflow	Editing, generation, and verification rules

Projects Using jParser

Project	Description	Status
jWebGPU	WebGPU bindings for Java	Active
jImGui	Dear ImGui bindings	Active
jJolt	Jolt Physics bindings	Active
jLua	Lua bindings	Active
jBox3D	Box3D bindings	Active
jBox2D	Box2D bindings	Active
jBullet	Bullet bindings	Inactive
gdx-physx	PhysX bindings for libGDX	Inactive

Support

If jParser is useful to you, consider sponsoring its development.

License

jParser is available under the Apache License 2.0.