Methods and apparatus for using description information about a function to translate a call to the function in a first language into a call to a corresponding function in a second language. The methods include create description information from a definition of a function associated with a first language that enables translation of a call to the function in the first language into a call to a corresponding function in a second language without requiring processing of the definition of the function. In one aspect, the methods include providing a description file of items, each item including description information about a function associated with a first language, and using the file of description items to translate a first program file from the first language into a second language.