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# Introduction

[](){: #interoperability-tutorial }

This section informs on interoperability, that is, information exchange, between
Erlang and other programming languages. The included examples mainly treat
interoperability between Erlang and C.

## Purpose

The purpose of this tutorial is to describe different interoperability
mechanisms that can be used when integrating a program written in Erlang with a
program written in another programming language, from the Erlang programmer's
perspective.

## Prerequisites

It is assumed that you are a skilled Erlang programmer, familiar with concepts
such as Erlang data types, processes, messages, and error handling.

To illustrate the interoperability principles, C programs running in a UNIX
environment have been used. It is assumed that you have enough knowledge to
apply these principles to the relevant programming languages and platforms.

> #### Note {: .info }
>
> For readability, the example code is kept as simple as possible. For example,
> it does not include error handling, which might be vital in a real-life
> system.
