64 bit java app to use 32 bit dll

Question

A Java app running under JBoss (using 64 bit JRockit) needs to communicate with a third-party 32 bit C++ dll (doing calls to an external service). Are there more clever ways to solve this than putting a .NET web service between the two?

Answer 1

You'll have to run a 32-bit process to load the dll. This could be another JVM that acts as an RMI server and loads the dll using JNI or a web-service.

The RMI server will probably be more performant, but the web-service might be simpler given all the tooling that's available.

If you do go the RMI server with JNI route look at Swig - it makes the JNI part much simpler for those of us that have forgotten C++.