This is the mail archive of the gsl-discuss@sources.redhat.com mailing list for the GSL project.


Index Nav: [Date Index] [Subject Index] [Author Index] [Thread Index]
Message Nav: [Date Prev] [Date Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next]

Re: GSL, VSIPL, and the ultimate numerical library


Brian Gough wrote:

> That is an interesting message.  Here are my thoughts.
> A single grand library may not be a desirable goal --
> it would constrain the user to operate within its parameters
> and implies a centralized development model.
> I believe the most flexible approach
> involves having many libraries:
> 
>  specialised libraries for different specialist areas 
>  a general library covering the basics 
> 
> LAPACK, FFTW, etc would be examples of specialised libraries.
> GSL would fall into the general category.
> The role of the general library is
> to provide basic functionality and interoperability.
> In the C/FORTRAN and C-based VHLL world,
> this is fairly straightforward.
> 
> For everyday purposes,
> the general library should be sufficient
> so that one can carry out simple tasks easily.
> This is the position of GSL: with it one can
> compute a random number,
> find a root or a minimum,
> obtain the value of a special function,
> compute simple statistics,
> interpolate a table of values,
> etc.

In general, different library developers
will use different data representations
for vector, matrix and tensor objects.
You will need to standardize the data representation
if you are going to insist upon interoperability
and that will preclude optimal performance
for some target platforms.

It would be better if library developers provided
interfaces which accept references (pointers)
to a GSL vector or matrix objects.
Any changes to GSL vector and matrix
data representations would need to be coordinated
with the different library developers
but not with application programmers.

Index Nav: [Date Index] [Subject Index] [Author Index] [Thread Index]
Message Nav: [Date Prev] [Date Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next]