A method for automatically mapping program functions to distributed heterogeneous platforms based on hardware attributes and specified constraints is disclosed. The method includes receiving a plurality of program functions and determining constraint information for each. The method further includes determining attributes of a plurality of hardware processing elements, wherein ones of the plurality of hardware processing elements have different attributes with respect to other ones of the hardware processing elements. The plurality of program functions may be automatically mapped for execution on at least a subset of the hardware processing elements, wherein the mapping is based on constraint information and the attributes.