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May 2011

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Subject:
From:
Ben Stabile <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
MASON Multiagent Simulation Toolkit <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Wed, 11 May 2011 12:13:10 -0400
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Sean,

One of the reasons I chose to plunge in with a conversion of ECJ in January
was because I am implementing a comprehensive platform for EC in cloud
environments. I wanted the EC engine to operate as efficiently and
seamlessly as possible on Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows7, because I'll
be integrating with Microsoft's AppFabric, Azure, and a few other goodies.

The somewhat broader picture, however, is that I want to integrate with Project
Trident <http://tridentworkflow.codeplex.com/> for collaborative workflow.
This, in turn, is related to myExperiment <http://www.myexperiment.org/> and
myGrid. <http://www.mygrid.org.uk/> And those, in turn, are related to
Taverna <http://www.taverna.org.uk/>, an open source workflow management
platform in *java* connecting global scientific research groups and
projects.

All by way of saying, you should maybe take a look at integrating ECJ and
MASON into such collaborative "watering holes". I think your systems are
made-to-order for that kind of integration.

Just a thought!

\'-)

Regards,

Ben


On Wed, May 11, 2011 at 11:29 AM, Sean Luke <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> On May 11, 2011, at 10:34 AM, Ben Stabile wrote:
>
>  As you know, one of the reasons I'm discovering these little "quirks" is
>> because in converting to .NET I'm building a lot of unit tests.
>>
>
> That's right, you're doing the .NET translation, I forgot.
>
>
>  Obviously for a conversion, the unit tests are mandatory. Do you have
>> internal test batteries that you run against these projects?
>>
>
> Nope, and it's a big failing.  MASON and ECJ both badly need a testing
> regimen.  As they're academic projects, our major source of funding for such
> things are grants.  MASON's got a small NSF grant approved for exactly, but
> with the budget cut at NSF it's looking unlikely to be awarded.  Which means
> that they'll have to wait unless others can start pitching in.
>
> Last year I built an extensive manual for ECJ, which required me to go
> through ECJ with a fine-toothed comb, kicking up a variety of (thankfully
> minor) bugs and misfeatures.  It was an enormously valuable exercise.  I'm
> now doing the same thing with MASON but it's taking quite a long time given
> my current academic schedule.  So anyway, it's high on the list.
>
>
>  I would volunteer to build such batteries myself were it not for severe
>> constraints on my time. Surely there are comp science students there who
>> could be enlisted to practice formal testing techniques on your projects?
>> ;-)
>>
>
> Tests for complex 70K system are nontrivial!
>
>
>  In any case, I have a HUGE amount of work to do to translate the MASON
>> code (Java3D, OpenGL, Swing, etc.). It is frankly quite daunting, and I'm
>> still trying to find the best way to hook appropriately into WPF and
>> Direct3D. Yikes!
>>
>
> As I've mentioned before, you are totally nuts.  :-)  Good luck!
>
> Sean
>


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