CFFI: Was ( Question on augmented_lagrangian_method)



I agree with Michel that the  "using external libraries" 
issue is very important, frustrating, and, if
properly addressed, would greatly enhance Maxima.

				Kostas

Michel Van den Bergh wrote:
>>
>> There are doubtless much stronger methods. About ipopt,
>> that could be used via a foreign-function interface. I believe
>> the project called CFFI is the most widely supported of such
>> interfaces. CFFI doesn't work with GCL, unfortunately. But
>> maybe it is not too early for Maxima to start working on
>> libraries in C/C++ and/or Fortran via CFFI for other Lisps.
>>
> <rant>
> This is one of the most frustrating things in maxima. There are so
> many excellent free software libraries around but they are very 
> difficult to use
> in maxima since GCL does not support a decent foreign function
> interface. As a result the wheel has to be reinvented all the time.
> Sage for example does not have this problem.
> Python is trivial to interface with libraries and hence sage can pick and
> choose the best available implementations for specific functionality
> (the object oriented nature of python makes this very natural). 
> So sage has very fast linear algebra over finite fields using linbox, 
> very fast
> polynomial arithmetic using the new libSingular etc...
> 
> Personally I would simply drop support for GCL if the developers want to 
> stay
> in their own little world and not support something **vital** like CFFI. 
> The possible drop in speed
> would be more than offset by the possibility of using external optimized 
> libraries for
> specific tasks.
> </rant>
> 
> Michel
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