.. _kernel-introduction:

ZOO Kernel Introduction
=======================

ZOO Kernel is a the heart of the ZOO. It is a powerful server-side C Kernel which makes 
it possible to manage and chain Web services, by loading dynamic libraries and handling 
them as on-demand Web services. The ZOO Kernel is written in C language, but supports 
several common programming languages in order to connect to numerous libraries and models.

Using ZOO Kernel as a Web Processing Platform
---------------------------------------------

ZOO Kernel works with Apache and can communicate with cartographic engines and Web mapping 
clients. It simply adds the WPS support to your spatial data infrastructure and your 
Web mapping application !

Supported Languages
-------------------

ZOO Kernel supports the following programming languages, and let you use them to create 
new ZOO Services from new or existing code :

========== =============== =======================  ============
Language   ServiceProvider DataStructure            Return
---------- --------------- -----------------------  ------------
C / C++    Shared Library  maps* M 	            integer
Fortran    Shared Library CHARACTER*(1024) M(10,30) integer
Java 	   Class File 	   HashMap 	            integer
Python 	   Module File 	   dictionary 	            integer
PHP 	   Script File 	   Array 	            integer
Perl 	   Script File 		                    integer
JavaScript Script file 	   Object or Array 	    Array/Object 
========== =============== ======================== ============


