A system and method are described for performing data processing using shared memory and socket-like application programming interface. In one embodiment, a plurality of handles is employed and associated with a plurality of processes. The plurality of handles may serve as communication end-points for communication of data. Further, an application programming interface is employed to present the plurality of handles as the application programming interface for sockets for facilitating the communication of data compatible with a programming language. The data is communicated between the plurality of processes via the socket-like plurality of handles.