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

Hi,I am Mudit Sharma currently an undergrad pursuing Electronics&Comm Engg at Delhi Technological University,Delhi,India. Being a geek since the beginning I have interests in various fields including semiconductors,Random variables and many more. In am certainly able to find leisure time for activities such as swimming and also playing chess.

    • Which languages do you speak?

My mother tongue is Hindi(spoken chiefly in India)-Namaste _/\_.I have known English for 20 years now. I have limited proficiency in German(Ich lerne Deutsche en schule!).

    • 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 studying Electronics And Communications.It deals chiefly with Analog Electronics,Concepts of random variables and stochstic processes applied in communications and much more.Apart from that I also have interests in machine learning being applied in VLSI.Also working on multilevel logic minimization under a prof.

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

GSoC is a platform where great minds are given an oppurtunity to interact.I didn't want to miss this oppurtunity :) Also this my first time.The stakes are thus high!The experience of GSoC will be my greatest gain.

    • 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!

This is my first time in GSoC. I began searching for organizations quite early,like December 2014. BoostC++ caught my attention, I interacted with them.I learnt a lot with one of the maintainers of Boost.UBlas(LA library). It was with this interaction that I proposed some decomposition algorithms for them.They put this idea on their idea's page! But some trivial questions asked by my side made it unclear that they will certainly choose my proposal.So I continued my search and then I found Octave!

  • Why are you choosing Octave?

Octave is a younger brother to MATLAB.I must say the GUI for Octave is better than MATLAB's. Octave has great potential and is able to solve certain problems which MATLAB cannot.Therefore I would definitely contribute to the specialist Octave!

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.

my IRC chat nick is sharma94

  • 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.

I live in GMT+530.This timezone will remain fixed irrespective of the seasons!

  • Please state the timeframe (in UTC+0) when you feel most comfortable working during GSoC. Where are your time buffers? Example: I usually code around 9.00 to 18.00 and could also try to start earlier (~7.00) for few days ;-)

I will definitely prefer working in daylight (GMT+10 to GMT+22)+-2.The times can be modified on special days,such as finalising some code.

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.

Learning C/C++ since the last 3 years but not fully proficient.Participating in competitive programming as well.Recently secured a World Rank 3919 in Facebook HackerCup 2015,I used C/C++ for the contest.So one can say quite familiar with C/C++. Familiar with Matlab since last 2 years.Topics covered in communication systems easily implemented.No experiences with OpenGL and Qt.

  • Please describe your experience with other programming languages.

I am a novice in python.I know some bits of web-development.Sometimes trying my luck at kaggle.com [1]. I am learning R in implementing the machine learning algorithms for kaggle problems.

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

As this is my first time I do not have any formal experience with a dev team.Even if not selected for GSoC I have planned to contribute to some dev org.Apart from Octave I am interested in C/C++ dev orgs.

  • 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.

I have done some school level projects in C++ like 'library management system'.The project was developed in a team of 2.I supervised the designing of the code.However the code was written mutually.I learnt new ways to approach a solution,other than the orthodox methods.

  • 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.

Under Construction for the next 7 days..

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

Quite familiar.

    • Mercurial or other source code management systems

Not much familiar.Would need help for this.

    • Mediawiki or other wiki software

Not much familiar.

    • make, gcc, gdb or other development tools

Not much familiar.

  • 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 :-)

Some more projects!!

O: Only out of interest

  • Did you ever hear about Octave before?

I had earlier heard of softwares which are like MATLAB.

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

I came to know about octave while gaining knowledge about MATLAB on the internet.

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

Octave doesn't need much of advertising but requires interested developers.

  • What was the first question concerning Octave you could not find an answer to rather quickly? Of course more than one question can be stated. We try to improve based on this each year! Includes learning how to use it, code, website, GSoC application, …

Why ocatve codebase isn't available on much popular github.com ?

P: Prerequisites

  • Please state the operating system you work with.

Windows 7

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

I might run ubuntu on a dual boot to run ROS(Robot OS) for my college team UGV(Unmanned Ground Vehicle).The team has developed an unmanned ground vehicle equipped with GPS,LIDAR and a Camera for navigation,its software and navigation is my under my responsibility.The team participates almost every year in IGVC(Intelligent Ground Vehicle Competition)-held annualy in Oakland Univesity, USA.

  • Please estimate an average time per day you will be able to (if separated) access
    • an internet connection

All day

    • a computer

10 hours maximum.Body needs rest too.

    • a computer with your progressing work on
  • Please describe the degree up to which you can install new software on computers you have access to.

Quite easily.I have done a bootstrap command in windows to run boostC++(of course youtube was handy) :P

S: Self-assessment

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

Criticism plays the key role in the refinement of a project.It will always be appreciated.

  • How autonomous are you when developing? If you answer both subquestions with "Yes, definitely", we are a tad confused. ;-)

I am autonomus.I try to do a problem on my own but I definitely take external help when stuck for quite a while.

    • Do you like to discuss changes intensively and not start coding until you know what you want to do?

I first draw a complete map of the task.Then coding.

    • 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 very much.Code is meant to be built then either modified or thrown away.

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.

The project on Improving matrix functions was chosen.The main task is to replace the eigenvalue decomposition method by the latest Schur-Parlett method. The link to the detailed proposal can be provided on request.

    • If you apply for a task you have added yourself instead, please describe this task, its scope and people you already talked to concerning it. What field of tasks did you miss on the list?
  • 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"). Optionally include two or three milestones you expect.

Till April end:Fixing bugs,utilizing some toolboxes for the project


Till May End:Semester exams and preparation


Coding for GSoC begins on 25th May.Unfortunately I will start coding init's 2nd week because of my semester exams.


Most probably 4th June: Coding begins


First week & Second Week--4th to 18th June:Include Schur decomposition,check for special cases.Blocking and confluent permutation Algorithms implemented for making T usable for Parlett's recurrence in solving Sylvester's equation which determine the complete f(T). funm done.Milestone 1 completed.


Third week & Fourth week--20th to 2nd July:Implement the logm as a special case using the same Schur-Parlett. sqrtm also using the similar Blocked-Schur Algorithm [2].


Fifth & Sixth week--5th July to 20th July:If time permits implement logm by the latest Scaling and Squaring Algorithms by N.Higham[3].Develop some more functions for funm which are presently absent.


Seventh & Eighth week--22nd July to 30th July:Intense testing and documentation Afterwards-Relax !!