Chapter 9. OpenSSL in Other Languages

So far, we’ve discussed OpenSSL in the context of the C programming language, but you don’t have to use C to use OpenSSL! Language bindings are available for many different languages, including Java, Perl, PHP, Python, and others. Unfortunately, none of the non-C language bindings that we’ve come across are as complete as the C API; nonetheless, it is important to discuss at least a few of the more popular and best-supported language bindings that are available.

The first section of this chapter is a discussion of Net::SSLeay, the most popular and complete module that is widely available for Perl. Be careful not to confuse Net::SSLeay with Crypt::SSLeay. The latter package is intended only to add support for HTTPS to the LWP package (a popular WWW interface library for Perl) and does not provide the additional interfaces to OpenSSL that Net::SSLeay does. The second section of this chapter is a discussion of M2Crypto, the most popular and complete suite of modules that is widely available for Python. The third section of this chapter is a brief discussion of the experimental OpenSSL extensions available in PHP 4.0.4 and newer versions.

For the purposes of these discussions, we assume that you have a familiarity with the language that is being discussed and its accompanying tools. It is not our intent to guide you through the installation of the modules or the common usage of the language. The specific purpose of this chapter is to demonstrate ...

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