Pritika

Public application template

A: An introduction

• Please describe yourself in three sentences, one of them regarding your current studies.

I am Pritika Malhotra. I am fond of learning new things and I try to avail the opportunities that add value to my life. I am currently in the last semester of my degree program.

• • Which languages do you speak?

I am fluent in English, Hindi and Punjabi.

• • What's your overall background? The general field you work in or are studying, e.g. computer science, physics, artificial intelligence, control theory...

I am a final year student pursuing B.Tech from Guru Nanak Dev Engineering College,India. Information Technology is the field of my study.

• Why do you want to participate in the Google Summer of Code? What do you hope to gain by doing so?

Google Summer of Code is an excellent opportunity to contribute to large organizations and to make contribution to real world projects which are used in daily life by people belonging to various backgrounds.

• • Please also describe your previous experience with the GSoC, if any. Includes any community-bonding, mentor experience or application, not necessarily accepted. We use this subquestion to identify which students are unfamiliar with how the program goes, providing further support. It has no negative impact on your rating!

I don’t have any previous experience with GSoC. I am a newbie!! I heard about it through my college mates and read about it. I got interested in the program and so went forward in participating in it.

• Why are you choosing Octave?

I have chosen Octave because I have recently had the opportunity to implement and execute some methods of numerical methods in Octave and have worked in Matlab as well.

C: Contact

• Please state the (unique and identical where possible) nick you use on IRC and any other communication channel related to Octave. We really want unique nicks. You might want to bold it.

IRC nick: Pritika

• Which time zone do you live in? Will that change over GSoC duration? Perhaps DST adjustment or a relocation. Note that both UTC and GMT are not aware of daylight saving time! Please state UTC+x or -x.

UTC+5:30.

• Please state the timeframe (in UTC+0) when you feel most comfortable working during GSoC. Where are your time buffers?

I work from 9:00 (UTC-3:30) to 18:00 (UTC-12:30) and 20:00 (UTC-14:30) to 23:00 (UTC-17:30) but as and when required I will be flexible in managing time.

E: Coding experience

This part is one of the more important ones in your application. You are allowed to be as verbose as you want, as long as you stay on topic ;-)

• Please describe your experience with C++, Octave or Matlab m-scripts, OpenGL and Qt.

C++: I have good understanding of C++ and have implemented various programs in C++ practising the basic and important concepts.

Matlab: I worked on “A Novel Framework for Medical Images by CBIR”, a research based project based on image retrieval, focusing on three parameters (color, texture and shape).

Octave: I have used Octave to implement and execute the various methods of Numerical Methods and errors and approximations.

• Please describe your experience with other programming languages.

I have experience of programming in Java and have worked on “Desktop File Search Engine” using J2SE and MySql. It involved copying, locating and deleting files.

Html, CSS and Javascript: I have used these to design web pages and a Toll application.

LaTeX: I have used it to make simple articles and question paper formats along with solutions.

• Please describe your experience with being in a development team. Do you have experience working with open source or free projects?

I have not worked on open source projects prior to this opportunity but yes, I have worked as a member of development team in academic projects.

• Please describe the biggest project you have written code for and what you learned by doing so. Also describe your role in that project over time.

“A Novel Framework for medical images”: It was based on image retrieval using features (Color, Texture, Shape). I had the role of writing the code as part of development team for the major portion of the project. Prior to coding, the project demanded research work on how to implement the idea and to select the features.

• Please state the commits and patches you already contributed to Octave. This question (one of the most important parts by the way) is the only part of your application our wiki admins will edit for you even after the application deadline. Code sometimes speaks louder than many words do.

I am going through patches and bugs and will surely share what all I do soon.

F: Feeling fine

• Please describe (in short) your experience with the following tools: We only use this question to determine where you need guidance, not for rating! We by no means expect you to be familiar with all of these and you'll won't necessarily need them while working with us.
  • IRC and mailing lists

I’m comfortable with the mailing list and have had minimal interaction on IRC. I’ll get more familiar with it in coming days.

• • Mercurial or other source code management systems

I use git generally but have started with Mercurial as well. I have had pleasurable experience with them.

• • Mediawiki or other wiki software

I am using it for the first time. Intially I faced problem in account creation that I shared on the mailing list.

• • make, gcc, gdb or other development tools

I have used these tools during installation and compilation processes. I am a linux user and have a past experience of using it.

• What will make you actively stay in our community after this GSoC is over? You can also tell us after applications close and we'll happily try to fulfill :-)

I think the biggest contentment comes when we have learnt how to contribute and can make it happen. If by being part of this community I continue to solve problems which help work progress then this will keep this bond intact for long times ahead.

O: Only out of interest

• Did you ever hear about Octave before?

Yes, I have heard about it before.

• • If so, when and where? How far have you been involved already?

I heard it some time back in my previous semester when I was using Matlab. But now as part of my training semester, it's here that I am using it. I have been using it from past two months.

• • If not, where would you expect or advise us to do advertising?

Specially in the academic institutions and similar places where science and mathematics play a great role.

P: Prerequisites

• Please state the operating system you work with.

I am a Linux user (Ubuntu 14.04 LTS). But I have comfort in working with Windows as well.

• • If you have access to more than one, please state them and the conditions under which you are granted this access.

Right now I'm using one but I have my personal laptop so can easily use any additional OS like Windows if required.

• Please estimate an average time per day you will be able to access
  • an internet connection
  • a computer
  • a computer with your progressing work on
• Please describe the degree to which you can install new software on computers you have access to.

I have access to all of these round the clock.

S: Self-assessment

• Please describe how useful criticism looks from your point of view as committing student.

Criticism is good because one becomes aware of all the possible mistakes that one can make. Criticism from people involved in community will definitely unveil all the situations beforehand and when it's time to give back to the world outside, the outcome will be an improved one.

• How autonomous are you when developing:
  • Do you like to discuss changes intensively and not start coding until you know what you want to do?

Yes, I do like to have clarity of my work before I start.

• • Do you like to code a proof of concept to 'see how it turns out', modifying that and taking the risk of having work thrown away if it doesn't match what the project or original proponent had in mind?

Yes, it's very beneficial in terms of deciding what is best for a particular problem and It will definitely give a better understanding before we start with the actual work.

Y: Your task

• Did you select a task from our list of proposals and ideas?

Yes.

• • If yes, what task did you choose? Please describe what part of it you especially want to focus on if you can already provide this information.

Please also wiki-link the page for your elaborated proposal here.

ode15s : Matlab Compatible DAE solver

• Please provide a rough estimated timeline for your work on the task. This should include the GSoC midterms and personal commitments like exams or vacation ("non-coding time"). If possible, include two or three milestones you expect.

Before 22nd April: More interaction with community and working on available bugs.

More information about DAE and its working algorithms.

22nd April - 22nd May: Study about SUNDIALS library and its MEX interface

Comparative study of Matlab ode15 solver and octave ode solvers

23rd May-26th June: After having studied existing ode solvers, begin coding for new ones.

Improving and testing these using various test cases.

(Manual testing and automated testing)

Testing the internals and black-box testing.

Preparations for Mid-Term evaluation

27th June-Mid-Term Evaluation

28th June-14th August: Comparing the results with Matlab ode solvers

Optimizing the internal logic for better performance

15th August-23th August- Final code preparation and documentation

I don't have exams this summer. It's six months training semester and we just have to report for final project evaluation.