From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.4.4 (2020-01-24) on polar.synack.me X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-0.4 required=5.0 tests=AC_FROM_MANY_DOTS,BAYES_00 autolearn=no autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4 X-Google-Language: ENGLISH,ASCII-7-bit X-Google-Thread: 103376,c2318591037235d2 X-Google-Attributes: gid103376,public X-Google-Thread: 11232c,c2318591037235d2 X-Google-Attributes: gid11232c,public X-Google-ArrivalTime: 2002-03-19 15:09:10 PST Path: archiver1.google.com!news1.google.com!newsfeed.stanford.edu!news.uchicago.edu!newsswitch.lcs.mit.edu!sunqbc.risq.qc.ca!cpk-news-hub1.bbnplanet.com!news.gtei.net!diablo.netcom.net.uk!netcom.net.uk!psiuk-p2!psiuk-p3!uknet!psiuk-n!news.pace.co.uk!nh.pace.co.uk!not-for-mail From: "Marin David Condic" Newsgroups: comp.lang.ada,misc.misc Subject: Re: libraries for Ada (was): periodicity Date: Tue, 19 Mar 2002 08:35:37 -0500 Organization: Posted on a server owned by Pace Micro Technology plc Message-ID: References: <171516c6068daa0fd32844182995dd3b.48257@mygate.mailgate.org> NNTP-Posting-Host: dhcp-200-133.miami.pace.co.uk X-Trace: nh.pace.co.uk 1016544939 26503 136.170.200.133 (19 Mar 2002 13:35:39 GMT) X-Complaints-To: newsmaster@news.cam.pace.co.uk NNTP-Posting-Date: 19 Mar 2002 13:35:39 GMT X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Newsreader: Microsoft Outlook Express 5.50.4522.1200 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V5.50.4522.1200 Xref: archiver1.google.com comp.lang.ada:21469 misc.misc:5824 Date: 2002-03-19T13:35:39+00:00 List-Id: Boy, that sure is an ambitious list! :-) I agree that some standard libraries would be an excellent addition to Ada and would serve to make it more attractive. However, I'd make the scope a little narrower in the hope of actually getting it adopted: Some version of math libraries - including statistics & matrix/vector math. (Insert your favorite math needs here, but I'd stick to the branches of math that are most frequently used first. Stats & Linear A seem to be pretty popular across the board, but there may be others as well.) Some version of basic data structures. Could we get the GRACE name settled & maybe see if a reference implementation can find some level of acceptance? Some version of a GUI - I'd base it on XML & possibly third-party interpreters. (I hear there's kind of a standards effort to do this at http://www.mozilla.org/? Or am I mistaken?) Shoot for that much & I'll bet we have a substantially better language. MDC -- Marin David Condic Senior Software Engineer Pace Micro Technology Americas www.pacemicro.com Enabling the digital revolution e-Mail: marin.condic@pacemicro.com "Kent Paul Dolan" wrote in message news:171516c6068daa0fd32844182995dd3b.48257@mygate.mailgate.org... > > I suspect each person's choices would be colored by their needs, and I > _know_ I am going to regret getting into this, and I'm _sure_ I'll hear > "but that already exists as (obscure, non-standard hobbiest) library X", > but for starters: > > Ports of the IMSL math and statistics libraries. > > Libraries of accessor/mapping routines to the various popular kinds of > close coupled, high bandwidth, low per processor capability massively > parallel processors, and same-named adapters for doing the exact same > problems where the underlying hardware is a network of slow > communicating, high capability computers (like SETI at Home). > > Pretty much all of Java, most importantly in the Java style of being > well integrated and astonishingly well documented, but compiled instead > of byte-compiled, so that for example students can just sit down and > build GUIed applications using the Ada language "right out of the box". > > A (heavy emphasis here, contrasting to the partial implementation of GKS > some years ago in Ada) _full_ implementation of PHIGS or of a freely > licensed RENDERMAN or some similar high tech graphics library, for > photo-realistic animated rendering. Similarly for animation. > > All of the algorithms published as the Graphics Gems series. > > A standard set of graph tools for trees, graphs, digraphs, et cetera, > and all the usual operations on them. > > A knowledge engineering library with support for the standard knowledge > capture paradigms and structures. > > High technology text and word processing component libraries. > > Data presentation libraries. > > Data mining and indexing component libraries. > > Evolutionary algorithms and neural network component libraries. (I'd be > more than happy to port my recent algorithm inventions here to Ada and > contribute them.) > > Data base functionality tightly couple to the Ada language but > supporting e.g. SQL standard protocols. > > A game-writing toolkit. Arguably, in terms of gaining wider acceptance > for Ada, this should be the top priority, as it would attract a crowd of > students and individual freelance programmers, exactly the crowd that > made C a success outside of its original laboratory environment. > > Financial management, planning, and estimating tool kits. Stock market > predicting components (might as well throw in snake oil, it keeps the > snakes well oiled, why not the rest of us?) > > Network programming, Web search, and Web presentation technology > libraries. > > Essentially, one could take all of the various ACM and IEEE computer > oriented proceedings, start at volume 1 number 1 of each, and work > forward, adding each published algorithm to a library, while > regularizing data representations and such to make the libraries > interoperable. > > Lots of other people would have longer, more practical lists. > > The points that get buried in list making are that there needs to be a > start, that it needs to be organized, that it needs some hope of > longevity via a sponsor that is more trustworthy than, for example, the > US Military's defunct Ada Mandate, it needs a home from which it will be > accessible, like the WUSTL archives, it needs librarians and indexers > and master programmers to keep it well organized and easy to search for > needed tools, it needs a proofing and filtering input stage where the > community can make contributions and know that they won't just > disappear. > > xanthian, "duck and cover" time. > > [Did I mention "free"? It is pretty pointless to price oneself out of > the market when trying to foment a revolution, as Sun does by putting > license fees on commercial use of Java, essentially preventing the > hobbiest from doing a slow transition to commercial success by putting a > huge "first step barrier" in front of the first commercial sale of a > Java product. Sun got confused about its main goal: preventing > Microsoft from putting Sun out of business by making the OS unimportant > again, and got greedy just when a chance of success was looming large.] > > > -- > Posted via Mailgate.ORG Server - http://www.Mailgate.ORG