>> Do you want your code to live? > >That's a very interesting question. When I was much younger, I used to >think I did. But when you realize that an awful lot of code isn't meant >to "live" -- it's meant to solve an immediate problem, and then be >discarded -- then you don't care whether it lives or not. > >Axiom was clearly designed to live, rather than solve an immediate >problem. But how much code is out there that was designed with a 30-year >horizon?
More to the point, how much code is in Sage that is designed for the 30 year horizon? Will a matrix inversion still give the right answer 30 years from now? If so, how many dozens of times will it have to be reimplemented because nobody can understand the current code? Which of the 16 kinds of matrix inversions are used and how do they differ in terms of input domains, performance, robustness, etc? Should I use the Maxima inversion or the Sympy inversion or the Lapack inversion or implement a new one? The front ends will likely change. Axiom's hyperdoc help system is being reimplemented using a firefox front end. The build system is about to be moved from using 'make' to using 'asdf'. The file system layout is disappearing, replaced by latex literate books. <http://axiom.axiom-developer.org/axiom-website/documentation.html> Sage's notebook is certain to be replaced. Even so, if we want the next generation of developers to contribute effectively it seems important to write down what they need to know so they don't give up in frustration. That's a serious loss. We need a computational mathematician to be able to contribute effectively without becoming frustrated. We also need to capture the special knowledge that lies behind the contributed code since there will be very few experts worldwide in a given research area. Would you recognize and be able to fix a bug in a feynman quantum computation? William has stated that he doesn't care about this issue since he wants a system NOW that he can use to do his number theory research. But it is fundamentally about the quality of the system. The 4Ms don't care because they pay people to learn the code. Google and Microsoft, having invested real dollars into the effort, ought to try for a higher standard and a longer horizon. I really wish they would hire a team with a mandate to make this code literate. Tim --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ To post to this group, send email to sage-devel@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/sage-devel URLs: http://www.sagemath.org -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
