[computer-go] Language War!

[Peter Drake]

Yes, I have bad habits about not empirically verifying my  
improvements. I should do that more thoroughly.

Peter Drake
Assistant Professor of Computer Science
Lewis & Clark College
http://www.lclark.edu/~drake/


On Jul 29, 2006, at 7:29 AM, Jim O'Flaherty, Jr. wrote:

> Peter,
>
> There are two primary constraints when authoring something like a  
> Go program - 1) total programming time spent to achieve a  
> particular measurable result, and 2) total execution time spent.   
> Best bang for value is minimizing times on both 1 and 2.  However,  
> one is synchronous as the coder(s) must be present and the second  
> can be asynchronous as the coder can be away (ex: sleeping).
>
> I would love to hear the details of your transition from Java to C+ 
> + (or C), specifically in regards to A) performance analysis  
> comparisons (what % gain/loss occurs between the languages/ 
> platforms), and B) the ratio of code writing/debugging time to  
> producing desired results.  There are trade-offs in using each  
> language.  You are in the unique position of measuring and  
> comparing these particular trade-offs as you transition from Java  
> to C++ (or C).  In fact, it seems you would be motivated to do  
> these measurements to ensure your continued investment in the  
> transition is actually paying off.
>
>
> Jim
>
>
> Peter Drake wrote:
>> I know where this thread is going, so I thought I'd get it out of  
>> the way and put it in the Subject: line.
>>
>> Here's the situation. Orego is now a relatively strong program,  
>> rapidly climbing the 9x9 ladder. Though knowledge-free, it can  
>> sometimes beat GNU Go. Our current algorithm uses a Monte Carlo  
>> approach similar to Coulom's "Crazy Stone".
>>
>> While we have a bunch of improvements to consider, the algorithm  
>> is so computationally intensive that the inefficiencies of Java  
>> are hurting us in both time and space. We're considering switching  
>> to C++. None of us has extensive C++ experience, although we've  
>> all seen some C and one of us has done a lot of Objective C. (I've  
>> ordered a copy of Weiss' "C++ for Java Programmers".)
>>
>> Should we start from scratch or use parts of another open source  
>> program, such as GNU Go?
>>
>> Peter Drake
>> Assistant Professor of Computer Science
>> Lewis & Clark College
>> http://www.lclark.edu/~drake/
>>
>>
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