Re: Swarm by example

[Marcus G. Daniels]

>>>>> "DS" == Darren Schreiber <address@hidden> writes:

DS> What problems need illustration?

Here's some Swarm stuff, above and beyond C and object-oriented
programming.  It's not ordered by importance, although it is roughly
low -> high level.

Describing and instantiating objects;
  (the meaning of +createBegin:/-createEnd)

  o create-time methods become unavailble

  o setting-time methods persist after -createEnd and
    using methods become available

  o compare/contrast C++ templates

Advanced defobj features
  o custom classes via DefClass
  o method combination 
  o phase splitting  

Loading and saving objects
  o serialization vs. archiver
  o shallow vs deep
  o hdf5 vs lisp  

Zones
  o implicit relation to Swarms
  o for locality
  o bulk-drops
  o the population list

Java and Swarm 
  o tips, tricks, troubleshooting
  o coding for the future

Common Swarm data structures
  o general create-time parameters
  o List, Map, Array, Index
  o Java alternatives 

Core concepts:
  o What is a Swarm?
    - composability 
    - concurrency
      * control of determinism
      * parallelism
    - constituency
  o Action
    - FAction and typed calls
  o ActionGroup 
  o Schedule
  o activation
  o dynamic scheduling

Random numbers
  o choosing one
  o instantiation
  o using seeds

GUI stuff
  o caveats and Java alternatives
  o why doTkEvents?
  o pointers to online Tcl/Tk manuals

Probes
  o VarProbe
  o MessageProbe
    - relation to FArguments/FCall
  o ProbeMap
  o ProbeDisplays 

Spaces
  o Double buffering
  o combining Discrete2d with internal lists

Analysis
  o notion of reflectivity, probes, and closure
  o use of HDF5 and R
  o use of COM technologies with Java

Misc tools:
  o Sorting
  o Selection
  o Argument parsing


                  ==================================
   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.
                  ==================================