Dear Mr. Gilles, Mr. Eric Barnhill and other mentors of the Apache
Numbers Project,
my name is Lam Gia Thuan, a computer student at the Frankfurt
University of Applied Sciences. My main interest is algorithmic problem
solving. Albeit it is not really realistic, I am really proud that I
have coded lots and lots of algorithms for as long as I can remember.
For Java '8', I have one year of practical experience. As a student, I
know my experience is nowhere enough, but I am willing to learn and do
everything I can to complete the task.
I find the topic "Port and redevelop interpolation libraries from
commons-math" interesting since I will have the chance to work with
different numeric algorithms and I can make a real impact upon
completion since this fundamental library may be used by ten thousands
of researchers in the world. Hence I would like to aim for it in GSoC
2019. Nonetheless, there are still certain questions I would like to ask
and I would appreciate it if you can give me your assistance so that I
can fully understand the scope of this project. Thank you very much.
In detail, I would like to ask the following questions:
1. *What is the complete scope of this project?* Is it only NUMBERS-96
or all NUMBERS-related JIRAs? I want to know it to ensure where to
focus.
2. *Is it okay if I am not familiar with Interpolation**'now'?* The
truth is, Interpolation is an area I have not known about, which is
why I find this task more exciting since I can definitely learn
something completely new.
3. Are there any specific requirements in terms of skills? *How do you
assure that I have the skills (now or in the near future) that you
need for this task?*
4. By porting and redeveloping, is it only about translating to Java 8?
I mean: *Will there be any research areas for improving the
performance of these algorithms in time complexity and memory*? I
really want to know, since I am thinking of a thesis topic after
this and it would be great if I can make use of this project.
5. *Do we implement any algorithms other than those available in
commons-math?*
6. By documentation, what kind of documentation would you expect? *A
javadoc like the old commons-math or a user guide with examples like
that of **JUnit 5
<https://junit.org/junit5/docs/current/user-guide/>**?*
7. By Java 8+, *do you expect Java 11 also*?
8. In the JIRA, there is no requirement for tests?*Will we implement
tests? If we do, will we implement both accuracy tests and
performance tests?* I would like to know to put them in the
deliverables.
These are all the questions I have for now. I would be happy if you
can help me clarify them, so that I can understand everything well
enough for the project. If you have questions for me, please do not
hesitate to let me know, and I will definitely give you the most
positive reply.
By the way, the link to the package summary in [ NUMBERS-96 ] has
one wrong character ')' at the end, so it is basically inaccessible.
Happy Coding.
Lam Gia Thuan
/Computer Science Student at the Frankfurt University of Applied
Sciences/Vietnamese German University./
