Re: Open source? -> Need to read source to model?

[Pietro Terna]

        Dear Jan,

        sure, it is a car, but in my car I don't care about electronic 
components
and so on. Using Swarm I had to read the source code in a very few number
of cases, mainly to cope with internal errors. 

        I agree that it is very useful to have the source, also to improve our
ability in the art of programming. But if we want to have more and more
social scientists using Swarm and agent based models, we have to facilitate
their efforts.

        Yours, Pietro

>1) The documentation should contain the static structure (class diagrams)
>2) The documentation should contain the dynamic behaviour (interaction
diagrams)
>3) Programmers program intelligible and use verbose comments
>4) Real programmers don't document, the raw code is the documentation
>
>In my opinion 1), 2), 3) and 4) are important. And an end-user should
>have access to all of them. This is for example done in the Java JDK.
>One can easily buy a book (e.g. Java in a Nutshell), look for 1) and 2).
>Then one can install the Java JDK and freely browse the source, which
>is 3) and 4) except for native methods.
>
>Why are all levels important?
>
>Now level 1) and 2) are important because frameworks today tend to be
>object-oriented. Therefore one works from time to time by extending classes
>or by using classes that come from some factories. So one has either to
comply
>with some contract or has to use some contract in his program. By contract
>I mean the syntax and intended semantics of an interface. 1) and 2) should
>elucidate that, and both are needed!
>
>Finally level 3) and 4) are important because any verbal statement or diagram
>from 1) and 2) is only an abstraction of what is really going on. So if you
>would like to know what is really going, either because you need the details
>in particular or because it helps you to produce your own abstract view of
>the matter, then its really useful to have 3) and 4) available.
>
>So the Java JDK did a good job, possibly it can be improved. I don't know
>how good the open source of Netscapes Mozilla is. But I would apreciate
>1), 2), 3) and 4) for Swarm and recommend it also to scientists. Its a car
>and you should be allowed as much as possible to look under the hood.
>
>Best Regards
>--
>Jan Burse                         Umweltphysik, EAWAG
>Scheuchzerstr. 67                 Überlandstr. 133
>8006 Zürich                       8600 Dübendorf
>tel: +41-1-364 17 66              tel: +41-1-823 55 34
>
>
>
>
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                  ==================================
   Swarm-Modelling is for discussion of Simulation and Modelling techniques
   esp. using Swarm.  For list administration needs (esp. [un]subscribing),
   please send a message to <address@hidden> with "help" in the
   body of the message.
                  ==================================