Editing Summer of Code - Getting Started
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The following is distilled from the [[Projects]] page for the benefit of potential [http://code.google.com/soc/Google Summer] [http://sophia.estec.esa.int/socis2012/?q=node/13 of Code] students. Although students are welcome to attempt any of the projects in that page or any of their own choosing, here we offer some suggestions on what good student projects might be. | |||
= General Guidelines = | |||
Octave is mostly written in (sadly, mostly undocumented) C++ and its own scripting language (m-scripts), which includes (or should include) most of the Matlab language as a subset. We generally prefer a different Octave house style to the usual Matlab style for m-scripts, but it's primarily a superficial stylistic difference. Additionally, there are bits and pieces of Fortran, Perl, C, awk, and Unix shell scripts here and there. In addition to being familiar with C++ and/or Octave or Matlab's scripting languages, you should probably be familiar or learn about Octave's infrastructure: | |||
* [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GNU_build_system The GNU build system] is used to build Octave. While you generally don't need to understand too much unless you actually want to change how Octave is built, you should be able to understand enough to get a general idea of how to build Octave. If you've ever done a <tt>configure && make && make install</tt> series of commands, you have already used the GNU build system. | |||
* [http://mercurial.selenic.com/ Mercurial] (abbreviated hg) is the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distributed_Version_Control_System distributed version control system] (DVCS) we use for managing our source code. You should have some basic understanding of how a DVCS works, but hg is pretty easy to pick up, especially if you already know a VCS like git or svn. | |||
* You should also read the same [http://www.gnu.org/software/octave/doc/interpreter/Contributing-Guidelines.html#Contributing-Guidelines contributing] [http://hg.savannah.gnu.org/hgweb/octave/file/tip/etc/HACKING guidelines] we have for everyone. | |||
* We primarily use [https://mailman.cae.wisc.edu/listinfo/octave-maintainers mailing lists] for communication. You should follow basic mailing list etiquette. For us, this mostly means "do not [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Top_posting#Top-posting top post]". | |||
* We also have [http://www.gnu.org/software/octave/chat.html an IRC channel]. The atmosphere is more relaxed, and we may talk about things that are not at all related to Octave. | |||
* [http://octave.sf.net Octave-Forge] is a project closely related to Octave where packages reside. They are somewhat analogous to Matlab's toolboxes. | |||
* In addition, you probably should know '''some''' mathematics, engineering, or experimental science or something of the sort. If you've used Matlab before, you probably have already been exposed to the kinds of problems that Octave is used for. | |||
= Suggested projects = | |||
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The following projects are broadly grouped by category and probable skills required to tackle each. Remember to check [[Projects]] for more ideas if none of these suit you, and your own ideas are always welcome. | |||
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== Numerical == | |||
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These projects involve implementing certain mathematical functions in Octave. | |||
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'''Required skills''': You should understand quite a bit of mathematics. Words like "eigenvalue", "analytic", and "Taylor series" shouldn't scare you at all. There is probably little C++ experience required, and probably many of these problems can be solved with m-scripts. | |||
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'''Difficulty''': Mid-to-hard depending how much mathematics you know and how well you can read numerical analysis journal articles. | |||
'''Potential mentor''': Carlo de Falco, Nir Krakauer, Fotios Kasolis, Luis Gustavo Lira | |||
=== Improve logm, sqrtm, funm === | |||
The goal here is to implement some missing Matlab functions related to matrix functions like the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matrix_exponential matrix exponential]. There is [http://octave.1599824.n4.nabble.com/matrix-functions-td3137935.html a general discussion] of the problem. | |||
=== Generalised eigenvalue problem === | |||
[http://www.mathworks.com/help/techdoc/ref/eig.html Certain calling forms] of the <tt>eig</tt> function are missing. The problem is to understand what those missing forms are and implement them. | |||
= | === Various sparse matrix improvements === | ||
The implementation of sparse matrices in Octave needs several improvements. Any of [[Projects#Sparse Matrices|these]] would be good. The paper by [http://arxiv.org/abs/cs.MS/0604006 Bateman & Adler] is good reading for understanding the sparse matrix implementation. | |||
=== [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Least-squares_spectral_analysis Least-squares spectral analysis] === | |||
= | Develop and test as an [http://octave.sourceforge.net/ Octave-Forge] package functionality for fast evaluation of harmonics and cross-correlations of unevenly sampled and nonstationary time series, possibly building on [http://www.jstatsoft.org/v11/i02 this paper] (which has C code with interface to R). | ||
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=== Implement solver for initial-boundary value problems for parabolic-elliptic PDEs in 1D === | |||
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The project will deliver a solver for initial-boundary value problems for parabolic-elliptic PDEs in 1D similar to Matlab's function <tt>pdepe</tt>. A good starting point is the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Method_of_lines method of lines] for which you can find more details [http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Partial_Differential_Equations/Method_of_Lines here] and [http://www.scholarpedia.org/article/Method_of_lines here], whereas an example implementation can be found [http://www.scholarpedia.org/article/Method_of_Lines/Example_Implementation here]. In addition, [http://www.pdecomp.net/ this page] provides some useful material. | |||
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== GUI == | |||
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Octave is currently working on a new native GUI. It is written in Qt, but it is still not ready for production. There are various ways in which it could be improved. | |||
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'''Required skills''': C++ and Qt. Whatever tools you want to use to write Qt code are fine, but Qt Creator is a popular choice nowadays. | |||
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'''Difficulty''': Mostly medium, depending if you've had Qt or GUI development experience before. | |||
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'''Potential mentor''': Jordi Gutiรฉrrez Hermoso, Michael Goffioul | |||
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=== Finish the Octave GUI === | |||
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The GUI is currently on its own branch in hg. It is not stable enough and its design is still in flux. It is in a very alpha stage and needs to be turned into a real usable product. At the moment, it consists of the basic building blocks (terminal window, editor, variable browser, history, file browser) that are put together into a main interface. The GUI uses the Qt library. Among the things to improve are: | |||
* define and implement a flexible docking system allowing to place any subwindow at any location | |||
* improve integration with octave: variable browser/editor, debugger, profiler... | |||
* define and implement an option/preferences dialog | |||
* improve additional components like the embedded [http://code.google.com/p/qirc/ IRC client] or the documentation browser | |||
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=== Integrate the GUI with the Octave build system === | |||
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The current GUI build system is independent of Octave. First one builds and installs Octave, and then the GUI. The goal of this project is to integrate the GUI and make it all build together. Good understanding of both the GNU build system and Qt's ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qmake qmake] and the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meta-object_System meta-object compiler])ย will be necessary here. | |||
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=== Implement a Qt widget for manipulating plots === | |||
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Octave has had for some time a native OpenGL plotter. The plotter requires some user interaction for manipulating the plots, and it's been using fltk for quite some time. We want to replace this with Qt, so it fits better with the overall GUI look-and-feel and is easier to extend in the future. | |||
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[https://github.com/goffioul/QtHandles QtHandles] is a current work in progress integrating the octave OpenGL renderer plus good support for GUI elements (uicontrol, uimenu, uitoolbar...). This project may initially consists of integrating the existing QtHandles code base into Octave. Then if time permits, further improvements can be made to QtHandles. | |||
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=== Create a better (G)UI for the profiler === | |||
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During GSoC 2011, Daniel Kraft successfully implemented a profiler for Octave. It needs a better interface and a way to generate reports. This may be done with Qt, but not necessarily, and HTML reports might also be good. | |||
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=== Create a graphical design tool for tuning closed loop control system (control pkg) === | |||
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When tuning a SISO feedback system it is very helpful to be able to grab a pole or a zero and move them by dragging them with the mouse. As they are moving the software must update all the plotted lines. There should be the ability to display various graphs rlocuse, bode, step, impulse etc. and have them all change dynamically as the mouse is moving. The parameters of the compensator must be displayed and updated. | |||
Potential mentor: Doug Stewart | |||
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== Graphics == | |||
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Octave has a new native OpenGL plotter (currently via [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fltk fltk], but we want to move away from that). There are several possible projects involved with it. Michael Goffioul has expressed interest in mentoring these projects. | |||
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'''Required skills''': C++ and OpenGL. General understanding of computer graphics. | |||
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'''Difficulty''': Medium, depending on your previous understanding of the topic. | |||
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'''Potential mentor''': Michael Goffioul | |||
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=== Lighting === | |||
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Implement transparency and lighting in OpenGL backend(s). A basic implementation was available in [http://octave.svn.sourceforge.net/viewvc/octave/trunk/octave-forge/extra/jhandles/ JHandles]. This needs to be ported/re-implement/re-engineered/optimized in the C++ OpenGL renderer of Octave. | |||
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=== Object selection in OpenGL renderer === | |||
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This project is about the implementation of a selection method of graphics elements within the OpenGL renderer [http://glprogramming.com/red/chapter13.html] | |||
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=== Non-OpenGL renderer === | |||
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Besides the original gnuplot backend, Octave also contains an OpenGL-based renderer for advanced and more powerful 3D plots. However, OpenGL is not perfectly suited for 2D-only plots where other methods could result in better graphics. The purpose of this project is to implement an alternate graphics renderer for 2D only plots (although 3D is definitely not the focus, extending the new graphics renderer to support basic 3D features should also be taken into account). There is not fix constaints on the toolkit/library to use, but natural candidates are: | |||
* [http://qt.nokia.com Qt]: the GUI is currently written in Qt and work is also in progress to provide a Qt/OpenGL based backend [https://github.com/goffioul/QtHandles] | |||
* [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cairo_%28software%29 Cairo]: this library is widely used and known to provides high-quality graphics with support for PS/PDF/SVG output. | |||
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=== TeX/LaTeX markup === | |||
Text objects in plots (like titles, labels, texts...) in the OpenGL renderer only support plain text mode without any formatting possibility. Support for TeX and/or LaTeX formatting needs to be added. | |||
The TeX formatting support actually only consists of a very limited subset of the TeX language. This can be implemented directly in C++ into Octave by extending the existing text engine, avoiding to add a dependency on a full TeX system. | |||
On the other hand, the LaTeX formatting support is expected to provide full LaTeX capabilities. This will require to use an external LaTeX system to produce text graphics in some format (to be specified) that is then integrated into Octave plots. | |||
The matplotlib project [http://matplotlib.sourceforge.net/users/usetex.html has already done this in Python] and might be used as an example of how to do this in Octave. Mediawiki has also also done [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Texvc something similar]. | |||
== Interpreter == | |||
The interpreter is written in C++, undocumented. There are many possible projects associated with it. | |||
'''Required skills''': ''Very good'' C and C++ knowledge, possibly also understanding of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gnu_bison GNU bison] and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flex_lexical_analyser flex]. Understanding how compilers and interpreters are made plus being able to understand how to use a profiler and a debugger will probably be essential skills. | |||
'''Difficulty''': Mid hard to very hard. Some of the biggest problems will probably be the interpreter. | |||
: | |||
'''Potential mentors''': John W. Eaton, Jordi Gutiรฉrrez Hermoso | |||
== | === Implement (or improve?) JIT compiling === | ||
Octave's interpreter is ''very'' slow on loops. Implementing JIT compiling would dramatically speed up execution of these loops. This is a very big project, but a dedicated student might make a good attempt of doing this over a summer. There may be some work already in place by the time the summer comes along. The idea is to probably use [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Llvm LLVM] to aid with the JIT compilation. | |||
This project | |||
The | |||
=== Improve memory management === | |||
From profiling the interpreter, it appears that a lot of time is spending allocating and deallocating memory. A better memory management algorithm might provide some improvement. | |||
=== Implement classdef classes === | |||
Matlab has two kinds of classes: old style @classes and new style classdef. Octave has only implemented the old style. Although the lexer and parser have been updated to recognise the syntax for the new style classdef declarations, they currently do nothing with it. A successful project would design and implement the necessary functionality for these classes. This project is somewhat simpler than others in the interpreter group. | |||
== Infrastructure == | |||
There are several projects closely related to Octave but not exactly core Octave that could be worked on. They are mostly infrastructure around Octave, stuff that would help a lot. | |||
'''Required skills''': Various. See below. | |||
'''Difficulty''': Various. See below. | |||
'''Potential mentor''': Jordi Gutiรฉrrez Hermoso, Carlo de Falco | |||
=== Finish the Agora website === | |||
In 2009, the Mathworks decided to restrict the terms of use Matlab Central, a place dedicated to Matlab collaboration. The Mathworks forbade copyleft licenses and using the "free" code found in Matlab central on anything other than Mathworks products (e.g. forbidding from using it on Octave, even if the authors of the code wanted to allow this). Thus Octave users have no place to centrally, quickly, and conveniently share Octave code. ย | |||
'''''Note''': is this still true?'' There seems to be plenty of, say, BSD-licensed code on Matlab Central. Mathworks can't really override such licenses. So what's the problem?ย '''Response''': The problem is that the BSD-like license that TMW is using allows adding additional restrictions. This is why they purged the GPL, which doesn't allow this. The restriction that they've added in their Terms of Service is that the "free" BSD code that you get from them can only be used on Matlab. | |||
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In response to this, a website started to form, [http://agora.octave.org/ Agora Octave]. | |||
This should be relatively easy webdev in Python using [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Django_%28web_framework%29 Django]. | |||
=== Give maintenance to the Emacs octave mode === | |||
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emacs Emacs] has an octave-mode that requires a lot of maintenance. This should also be an easy project if you already use Emacs and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elisp elisp]. | |||
=== Improve binary packaging === | |||
We would like to be able to easily generate binary packages for Windows and Mac OS X. Right now, it's difficult and tedious to do so. Any way to help us do this in a faster way would be appreciated. Required knowledge is understanding how building binaries in Windows and Mac OS X works. Medium difficulty. | |||
=== Installation of packages === | |||
We would like to enhance the management of Octave-forge packages from within Octave environment. Currently there is a working (but rather monolithic) function that is used to do the job. The work would be to improve the way Octave interacts with the package server. Since the functionality is already sketched by the current function, the most important skill is software design. | |||
'''Minimum requirements''': Ability to read and write Octave code. Minimal FTP/HTTP knowledge. | |||
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and | |||
'''Difficulty''': Easy | |||
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== Octave-Forge packages == | |||
=== Rewrite symbolic package === | |||
: | Octave's current [http://octave.svn.sourceforge.net/viewvc/octave/trunk/octave-forge/main/symbolic/ symbolic] package for symbolic computation is outdated, fragile and limited in its capabilities. The new symbolic package should offer better Matlab compatibility, for example handling of symbolic matrices. Like the current symbolic package, the new package could use the proven [http://www.ginac.de/ GiNaC] library for symbolic computations. | ||
The work would be to integrate GiNaC by using Octave's objects and classes. This can be done in C++ in a way similar to Michele Martone's new [http://octave.svn.sourceforge.net/viewvc/octave/trunk/octave-forge/main/sparsersb/ sparsersb] package. | |||
'''Required skills''': C++. Ability to understand Octave and GiNaC API documentation. | |||
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'''Difficulty''': medium. | |||
'''Potential mentor''': Lukas Reichlin | |||
=== RSB Octave interface === | |||
The Robotics Service Bus ([https://code.cor-lab.de/projects/rsb RSB]) is a message-oriented, event-driven middleware aiming at scalable integration of robotics and software systems in diverse environments. | |||
It provides Octave a flexible and standardized way to communicate with other programs like Sage (or any Python application), Maxima (or any Lisp application). At the same time it gives a general solution to communicate with hardware platforms. | |||
The work would consist on writing a small extendable package that provides minimal communication functionality. The package should follow the RSB standard such that its integrating it with existing robotic hardware and the successful [http://www.ros.org/wiki/ ROS]. [http://ros.org/doc/api/rosoct/html/annotated.html Old Octave-ROS interface] | |||
'''Required skills''': C++. Understanding of [https://code.cor-lab.de/projects/rsb/wiki RSB basics]. | |||
'''Difficulty''': medium. | |||
'''Potential mentor''': Arne Nordmann, Juan Pablo Carbajal | |||
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= | === Low-Level I/O === | ||
Octave currently provides file I/O and sockets for communicating with the outside world. Octave is currently not capable of communicating over serial interfaces (RS232) or, for example, I2C and CAN (although an workaround for serial I/O exists, however the author could never get it to work in an acceptable way). The project would provide communication interfaces in octave, allowing octave to directly communicate with measurement systems, data acquisition systems, sensors, robotic systems and the like. ย | |||
RS232 interfaces are often deemed "legacy", however there is not only an enormous amount of expensive, existing instrumentation equipment out there, still using RS232, but due to the simplicity it is still common in new embedded systems, often bridged via USB providing a virtual com port. | |||
Potential interfaces to support could, for example, be RS232, I2C, CAN, LIN, SPI, parallel port, GPIB, USB HID, USBTMC. One initial task of the student would be to select a subset of these standards to support, taking, for example, existing drivers into account. | |||
'''Required skills''': C++, system programming knowledge, knowledge of Octave's current handling of file descriptors. | |||
'''Difficulty''': Mostly medium, depending depending on existing driver support and experience with the protocols | |||
'''Potential mentor''': Michael Godfrey (?) | |||