FAUST (programming language)

Infobox programming language
name = Faust

caption =
file_ext =
paradigm = Functional_programming
year = 2002
designer = Yann Orlarey, Dominique Fober, Stéfane Letz
developer =
latest_release_version = 0.9.9.4
latest_release_date = March 27 2008
latest_test_version =
latest_test_date =
typing =
implementations =
dialects =
influenced_by =
influenced =
operating_system =
license = GPLv2
website = [http://faust.grame.fr/ Faust project page]
wikibooks =

FAUST is a compiled language for real-time audio signal processing. The name FAUST stands for Functional Audio Stream.

What is FAUST intended for ?

FAUST is intended for developers who need to develop efficient C/C++ audio plugins for existing systems or full standalone audio applications. Thanks to some specific compilation techniques and powerful optimizations, the C++ code generated by the Faust compiler is usually very fast. It can generally compete with (and sometimes outperform) hand-written C code.

What does it look like ?

Programming with FAUST is somehow like working with electronic circuits and signals. A FAUST program is a list of definitions that defines a signal processor block-diagram : a piece of code that produces output signals according to its input signals (and maybe some user interface parameters).

How does it work ?

Faust is a compiled language translated to C++. In order to generate the most efficient code, the compilation is based on a semantic approach. Instead of compiling directly the block-diagram as described by the user, the idea is to compile its mathematical meaning (what it actually computes).

External links

* [http://faudiostream.sourceforge.net/ FAUST homepage]