Programming environment approach to mathematical software development

Conference · Sat Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1983

OSTI ID:6336035

Cowell, W R

Mathematical software is created in collaborative projects. Essential to successful collaboration is the construction and maintenance of shared project data files containing software udner development, test cases and results, software documentation, and documentation of project policy and procedures. Research in software tools and portable operating systems has led to the construction of virtual programming environments that operate on the contents of virtual file systems. When the tools are Fortran-oriented, and new tools may be added to the environment by users, the stage is set for a collaborative mathematical software project organized around the use of such a system. We trace the lines of research over the last decade that have brought us to the threshold of environment-oriented projects and set forth general requirements for the programming environment and its associated file structure. We sketch an approach to various project activities when the data are contained in the virtual file structure. A paradigm for the mathematical software programming environment and file structure is the Toolpack system, now under development. Our intention is to stimulate discussion, refinement, and trial of an environment-oriented approach to mathematical software development.

• Research Organization: Argonne National Lab., IL (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: W-31109-ENG-38
• OSTI ID: 6336035
• Report Number(s): CONF-830531-1; ON: DE83009494
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS
990200* -- Mathematics & Computers
FORTRAN
LIBRARIES
MATHEMATICS
PROGRAMMING
PROGRAMMING LANGUAGES