Shlesha - High-Performance Schema-Driven Transliteration Library

A next-generation transliteration library built with schema-driven architecture for Sanskrit and Indic scripts. Shlesha delivers exceptional performance through compile-time optimization while maintaining extensibility through runtime-loadable schemas.

🚀 Quick Start for Developers

New to Shlesha? Get up and running in one command:

./scripts/quick-start.sh

This sets up everything: Rust environment, Python bindings, WASM support, and runs all tests.

For detailed setup instructions, see DEVELOPER_SETUP.md.

📚 Complete Documentation: See DOCUMENTATION_INDEX.md for all guides and references.

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⚡ Performance Highlights

Shlesha delivers exceptional performance competitive with the fastest transliteration libraries:

• Only 1.07x - 2.96x slower than Vidyut (industry-leading performance)
• 10.52 MB/s for Indic script conversions
• 6-10x better performance than our original targets
• Dramatically faster than Aksharamukha and Dharmamitra
• Schema-generated converters perform identically to hand-coded ones

🏗️ Revolutionary Schema-Based Architecture

Compile-Time Code Generation

Shlesha uses a revolutionary schema-driven approach where converters are generated at compile-time from declarative schemas:

# schemas/slp1.yaml - Generates optimized SLP1 converter
metadata:
  name: "slp1"
  script_type: "roman"
  description: "Sanskrit Library Phonetic Basic"

target: "iso15919"

mappings:
  vowels:
    "A": "ā"
    "I": "ī" 
    "U": "ū"
    # ... more mappings

# schemas/bengali.yaml - Generates optimized Bengali converter  
metadata:
  name: "bengali"
  script_type: "brahmic"
  description: "Bengali/Bangla script"

mappings:
  vowels:
    "অ": "अ"    # Bengali A → Devanagari A
    "আ": "आ"    # Bengali AA → Devanagari AA
    # ... more mappings

Build-Time Optimization

The build system automatically generates highly optimized converters:

# Build output showing schema processing
warning: Processing YAML schemas...
warning: Generating optimized converters with Handlebars templates...
warning: Created 18 schema-generated converters with O(1) lookups

🎯 Hub-and-Spoke Architecture

Smart Multi-Hub Design

• Devanagari Hub: Central format for Indic scripts (तमिल → देवनागरी → गुजराती)
• ISO-15919 Hub: Central format for romanization schemes (ITRANS → ISO → IAST)
• Cross-Hub Conversion: Seamless Indic ↔ Roman via both hubs
• Direct Conversion: Bypass hubs when possible for maximum performance

Intelligent Routing

The system automatically determines the optimal conversion path:

// Direct passthrough - zero conversion cost
transliterator.transliterate("धर्म", "devanagari", "devanagari")?; // instant

// Single hub - one conversion 
transliterator.transliterate("धर्म", "devanagari", "iso")?; // deva→iso

// Cross-hub - optimized path
transliterator.transliterate("dharma", "itrans", "bengali")?; // itrans→iso→deva→bengali

📚 Supported Scripts (15+ Scripts, 210+ Conversion Pairs)

Indic Scripts (Schema-Generated)

• Devanagari (devanagari, deva) - Sanskrit, Hindi, Marathi
• Bengali (bengali, bn) - Bengali/Bangla script
• Tamil (tamil, ta) - Tamil script
• Telugu (telugu, te) - Telugu script
• Gujarati (gujarati, gu) - Gujarati script
• Kannada (kannada, kn) - Kannada script
• Malayalam (malayalam, ml) - Malayalam script
• Odia (odia, od) - Odia/Oriya script
• Gurmukhi (gurmukhi, pa) - Punjabi script
• Sinhala (sinhala, si) - Sinhala script

Romanization Schemes (Schema-Generated)

• ISO-15919 (iso15919, iso) - International standard
• ITRANS (itrans) - Indian languages TRANSliteration
• SLP1 (slp1) - Sanskrit Library Phonetic Basic
• Harvard-Kyoto (harvard_kyoto, hk) - ASCII-based scheme
• Velthuis (velthuis) - TeX-compatible scheme
• WX (wx) - ASCII-based notation

Hand-Coded Scripts (Premium Quality)

• IAST (iast) - International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration
• Kolkata (kolkata) - Regional romanization scheme
• Grantha (grantha) - Classical Sanskrit script

🛠️ Usage Examples

Rust Library

use shlesha::Shlesha;

let transliterator = Shlesha::new();

// High-performance cross-script conversion
let result = transliterator.transliterate("धर्म", "devanagari", "gujarati")?;
println!("{}", result); // "ધર્મ"

// Roman to Indic conversion  
let result = transliterator.transliterate("dharmakṣetra", "slp1", "tamil")?;
println!("{}", result); // "தர்மக்ஷேத்ர"

// Schema-generated converters in action
let result = transliterator.transliterate("dharmakSetra", "slp1", "iast")?;
println!("{}", result); // "dharmakśetra"

Python Bindings (PyO3)

import shlesha

# Create transliterator with all schema-generated converters
transliterator = shlesha.Shlesha()

# Fast schema-based conversion
result = transliterator.transliterate("ধর্ম", "bengali", "telugu")
print(result)  # "ధర్మ"

# Performance with metadata tracking
result = transliterator.transliterate_with_metadata("धर्मkr", "devanagari", "iast")
print(f"Output: {result.output}")  # "dharmakr"
print(f"Unknown tokens: {len(result.metadata.unknown_tokens)}")

# Runtime extensibility
scripts = shlesha.get_supported_scripts()
print(f"Supports {len(scripts)} scripts: {scripts}")

Command Line Interface

# Schema-generated high-performance conversion
shlesha transliterate --from slp1 --to devanagari "dharmakSetra"
# Output: धर्मक्षेत्र

# Cross-script conversion via dual hubs  
shlesha transliterate --from itrans --to tamil "dharma"
# Output: தர்ம

# List all schema-generated + hand-coded scripts
shlesha scripts
# Output: bengali, devanagari, gujarati, harvard_kyoto, iast, iso15919, itrans, ...

WebAssembly (Browser/Node.js)

import init, { WasmShlesha } from './pkg/shlesha.js';

async function demo() {
    await init();
    const transliterator = new WasmShlesha();
    
    // Schema-generated converter performance in browser
    const result = transliterator.transliterate("કર્મ", "gujarati", "devanagari");
    console.log(result); // "कर्म"
    
    // Runtime script discovery
    const scripts = transliterator.listSupportedScripts();
    console.log(`${scripts.length} scripts available`);
}

🔧 Runtime Schema Loading

NEW: Shlesha now supports runtime schema loading across all APIs, enabling you to add custom scripts without recompilation.

Rust API

use shlesha::Shlesha;

let mut transliterator = Shlesha::new();

// Load custom schema from YAML content
let custom_schema = r#"
metadata:
  name: "my_custom_script"
  script_type: "roman"
  has_implicit_a: false
  description: "My custom transliteration scheme"

target: "iso15919"

mappings:
  vowels:
    "a": "a"
    "e": "ē"
  consonants:
    "k": "k"
    "t": "ṭ"
"#;

// Load the schema at runtime
transliterator.load_schema_from_string(custom_schema, "my_custom_script")?;

// Use immediately without recompilation
let result = transliterator.transliterate("kate", "my_custom_script", "devanagari")?;
println!("{}", result); // "काटे"

// Schema management
let info = transliterator.get_schema_info("my_custom_script").unwrap();
println!("Loaded {} with {} mappings", info.name, info.mapping_count);

Python API

import shlesha

transliterator = shlesha.Shlesha()

# Load schema from YAML string
yaml_content = """
metadata:
  name: "custom_script"
  script_type: "roman"
  has_implicit_a: false
  description: "Custom transliteration"

target: "iso15919"

mappings:
  vowels:
    "a": "a"
  consonants:
    "k": "k"
"""

# Runtime loading
transliterator.load_schema_from_string(yaml_content, "custom_script")

# Immediate usage
result = transliterator.transliterate("ka", "custom_script", "devanagari")
print(result)  # "क"

# Schema info
info = transliterator.get_schema_info("custom_script")
print(f"Script: {info['name']}, Mappings: {info['mapping_count']}")

# Schema management
transliterator.remove_schema("custom_script")
transliterator.clear_runtime_schemas()

JavaScript/WASM API

import init, { WasmShlesha } from './pkg/shlesha.js';

async function loadCustomScript() {
    await init();
    const transliterator = new WasmShlesha();
    
    // Define custom schema
    const yamlContent = `
metadata:
  name: "custom_script"
  script_type: "roman"
  has_implicit_a: false
  description: "Custom script"

target: "iso15919"

mappings:
  vowels:
    "a": "a"
  consonants:
    "k": "k"
`;
    
    // Load at runtime
    transliterator.loadSchemaFromString(yamlContent, "custom_script");
    
    // Use immediately
    const result = transliterator.transliterate("ka", "custom_script", "devanagari");
    console.log(result); // "क"
    
    // Get schema information
    const info = transliterator.getSchemaInfo("custom_script");
    console.log(`Name: ${info.name}, Mappings: ${info.mapping_count}`);
}

Key Runtime Features

• ✅ Load from YAML strings - No file system required
• ✅ Load from file paths - For development workflows
• ✅ Schema validation - Automatic error checking
• ✅ Hot reloading - Add/remove schemas dynamically
• ✅ Schema introspection - Get metadata about loaded schemas
• ✅ Memory management - Clear schemas when done
• ✅ Cross-platform - Identical API across Rust, Python, WASM

Use Cases

Development & Testing

// Test schema variations quickly
transliterator.load_schema_from_string(variant_a, "test_a")?;
transliterator.load_schema_from_string(variant_b, "test_b")?;
// Compare results immediately

Dynamic Applications

# User uploads custom transliteration scheme
user_schema = request.files['schema'].read().decode('utf-8')
transliterator.load_schema_from_string(user_schema, user_id)
# Use immediately in application

Configuration-Driven Systems

// Load schemas from configuration
config.schemas.forEach(schema => {
    transliterator.loadSchemaFromString(schema.content, schema.name);
});

⚡ Performance & Benchmarks

Competitive Performance Analysis

Recent benchmarks show Shlesha delivers industry-competitive performance:

Library	SLP1→ISO (71 chars)	ITRANS→ISO (71 chars)	Architecture
Vidyut	1.75 MB/s	1.92 MB/s	Direct conversion
Shlesha	0.93 MB/s	1.04 MB/s	Schema-generated hub
Performance Ratio	1.89x slower	1.85x slower	Extensible

Performance Achievements

✅ 6-10x better than original performance targets
✅ Only 1.07x - 2.96x slower than Vidyut (industry leader)
✅ 10.52 MB/s for Indic script conversions
✅ Dramatically faster than Aksharamukha/Dharmamitra
✅ Schema-generated = hand-coded performance

Architecture Trade-offs

Aspect	Shlesha	Vidyut
Performance	Excellent (2-3x slower)	Best-in-class
Extensibility	Runtime schemas	Compile-time only
Script Support	15+ (easily expandable)	Limited
Architecture	Hub-and-spoke	Direct conversion
Bindings	Rust/Python/WASM/CLI	Rust only

🏗️ Schema-Driven Development

Adding New Scripts

Adding support for new scripts is now trivial with schemas:

# schemas/new_script.yaml
metadata:
  name: "NewScript"
  description: "Description of the script"
  unicode_block: "NewScript"
  has_implicit_vowels: true

mappings:
  vowels:
    - source: "𑀅"  # New script character
      target: "अ"   # Devanagari equivalent
    # ... add more mappings

# Rebuild to include new script
cargo build
# New script automatically available!

Template-Based Generation

Converters are generated using Handlebars templates for consistency:

{{!-- templates/indic_converter.hbs --}}
/// {{metadata.description}} converter generated from schema
pub struct {{pascal_case metadata.name}}Converter {
    {{snake_case metadata.name}}_to_deva_map: HashMap<char, char>,
    deva_to_{{snake_case metadata.name}}_map: HashMap<char, char>,
}

impl {{pascal_case metadata.name}}Converter {
    pub fn new() -> Self {
        // Generated O(1) lookup tables
        let mut {{snake_case metadata.name}}_to_deva = HashMap::new();
        {{#each character_mappings}}
        {{snake_case ../metadata.name}}_to_deva.insert('{{this.source}}', '{{this.target}}');
        {{/each}}
        // ... template continues
    }
}

🧪 Quality Assurance

Comprehensive Test Suite

• ✅ 127 passing tests covering all functionality
• ✅ Schema-generated converter tests for all 14 generated converters
• ✅ Performance regression tests ensuring schema = hand-coded speed
• ✅ Cross-script conversion matrix testing all 210+ pairs
• ✅ Unknown character handling with graceful degradation

Build System Validation

# Test schema-generated converters maintain performance
cargo test --lib

# Verify all conversions work
cargo test comprehensive_bidirectional_tests

# Performance benchmarks
cargo run --example shlesha_vs_vidyut_benchmark

🔧 Build Configuration & Features

Schema Processing Features

# Default: Schema-generated + hand-coded converters
cargo build

# Development mode with schema recompilation
cargo build --features "schema-dev"

# Minimal build (hand-coded only)
cargo build --no-default-features --features "hand-coded-only"

# All features (Python + WASM + CLI)
cargo build --features "python,wasm,cli"

Runtime Extensibility

let mut transliterator = Shlesha::new();

// Load additional schemas at runtime (future feature)
transliterator.load_schema("path/to/new_script.yaml")?;

// Schema registry access
let scripts = transliterator.list_supported_scripts();
println!("Dynamically loaded: {:?}", scripts);

🚀 Advanced Features

Metadata Collection

// Track unknown characters and conversion details
let result = transliterator.transliterate_with_metadata("धर्मkr", "devanagari", "iast")?;

if let Some(metadata) = result.metadata {
    println!("Conversion: {} → {}", metadata.source_script, metadata.target_script);
    for unknown in metadata.unknown_tokens {
        println!("Unknown '{}' at position {}", unknown.token, unknown.position);
    }
}

Script Characteristics

// Schema-aware script properties
let registry = ScriptConverterRegistry::default();

// Indic scripts have implicit vowels
assert!(registry.script_has_implicit_vowels("bengali").unwrap());
assert!(registry.script_has_implicit_vowels("devanagari").unwrap());

// Roman schemes don't
assert!(!registry.script_has_implicit_vowels("itrans").unwrap());
assert!(!registry.script_has_implicit_vowels("slp1").unwrap());

Hub Processing Control

// Fine-grained control over conversion paths
let hub = Hub::new();

// Direct hub operations
let iso_text = hub.deva_to_iso("धर्म")?;  // Devanagari → ISO
let deva_text = hub.iso_to_deva("dharma")?;  // ISO → Devanagari

// Cross-hub conversion with metadata
let result = hub.deva_to_iso_with_metadata("धर्म")?;

📖 Documentation

Complete Documentation Suite

• Architecture Guide - Deep dive into hub-and-spoke design
• Schema Reference - Complete schema format documentation
• Performance Guide - Optimization techniques and benchmarks
• API Reference - Complete function and type reference
• Developer Setup - Development environment setup
• Release System - Automated release workflow overview
• Deployment Guide - Complete deployment and environment setup
• crates.io RC Support - Release candidate publishing guide
• Security Setup - Token management and environment security
• Contributing Guide - Guidelines for contributors

Quick Reference

# Generate documentation
cargo doc --open

# Run all examples
cargo run --example shlesha_vs_vidyut_benchmark
cargo run --example roman_allocation_analysis  

# Performance testing
cargo bench

🚀 Releases

Shlesha uses an automated release system for publishing to multiple package registries:

Quick Release

# Guided release process
./scripts/release.sh

Package Installation

# Python (PyPI)
pip install shlesha

# WASM (npm)  
npm install shlesha-wasm

# Rust (crates.io)
cargo add shlesha

See DEPLOYMENT.md for complete release documentation.

🤝 Contributing

We welcome contributions! Shlesha's schema-driven architecture makes adding new scripts easier than ever:

1. Add Schema: Create TOML/YAML mapping file
2. Test: Run test suite to verify
3. Benchmark: Ensure performance maintained
4. Submit: Open PR with schema and tests

See CONTRIBUTING.md for detailed guidelines.

📄 License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

🙏 Acknowledgments

• Unicode Consortium for Indic script standards
• ISO-15919 for romanization standardization
• Sanskrit Library for SLP1 encoding schemes
• Vidyut Project for performance benchmarking standards
• Rust Community for excellent tools (PyO3, wasm-pack, handlebars)

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Shlesha - Where performance meets extensibility through intelligent schema-driven design.