Erlang meets physics - Erlang Programming

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From: Jared Kofron <jared.na...@gmail.com>
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Date: Wed, 14 Mar 2012 17:30:07 -0700
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To: CGS <cgsmcml...@gmail.com>
Cc: Erlang Questions <erlang-questi...@erlang.org>
Subject: Re: [erlang-questions] Erlang meets physics
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On Mar 14, 2012, at 5:21 PM, CGS wrote:

> Hi,
>=20
> Firstly, I am glad to see physicists getting interest in Erlang.
>=20
> I see Erlang best usage in physics in few fields from =
Astrophysics/Astroparticle Physics/Elementary Particle Physics:
> 1. GRID;
> 2. integrated in the readout of an array of detectors for atmospheric =
showers,

Very true, these are great test cases for Erlang.  EPICS is a project =
that accelerator folks wrote a long time ago (and still use and maintain =
to an extent)
that I think is a no-brainer application for Erlang: =
http://www.aps.anl.gov/epics/.  It is written in C and forms a =
distributed data acquisition system.

> but there are few fields in which Erlang still cannot replace C/C++ =
(or Verilog in some cases):
> 1. accelerator (high and medium energy) physics (high frequency =
readout may not be compatible with Erlang, or vice-versa);
> 2. Monte Carlo simulations (even if it provides nice concurrency and =
code hot swap, it lacks some quite important characteristics).
>=20
> There may be some other fields from physics where Erlang may be =
suitable (except for communications for which is intended), but I am not =
the person to speak about. Nevertheless, it's good to know Erlang enters =
the above mentioned fields.
>=20
> Good luck!
> CGS
>=20
>=20
>=20
>=20
> On Wed, Mar 14, 2012 at 4:33 PM, Pablo Platt <pablo.pl...@yahoo.com> =
wrote:
> >which the device module (in this case hp8340b) translates into the =
GPIB command "OPCW", and based on the
> >device address (which is governed by the atom in the first argument), =
dispatches it over a bus handle that it owns
> >in a state variable via bus:send_query/2. =20
>=20
> Can you explain how the device module translate to the GPIB command =
"OPCW"?
> Is it pure erlang?
> Maybe you can share some code?
>=20
> Thanks
>=20
>=20
>=20
>=20
> ________________________________
> From: Jared Kofron <jared.na...@gmail.com>
> To: Erlang Questions <erlang-questi...@erlang.org>
> Sent: Wednesday, March 14, 2012 1:43 AM
> Subject: Re: [erlang-questions] Erlang meets physics
>=20
>=20
> Hi Pablo-
> My first project was on embedded hardware, and basically consisted of =
NIFs and Webmachine dispatching.
> Pretty fun stuff. =20
>=20
> My current project is a little more involved, but is also pretty =
interesting:
>=20
> Right now the bus over which communication takes place is abstracted =
away by having hardware modules
> which translate API functions into their appropriate wire =
representation and then transmit those representations
> over a handle that they have to the correct bus. =20
>=20
> In essence what I've done is taken instruments and buses and given =
them something like behaviors. =20
> Hardware can perform read,write,or configure, for example.  So if I =
want to read the center frequency of a sweeper,
> I might say
>=20
> hp8340b:read(high_frequency_sweeper,<<"cw_freq">>).
>=20
> which the device module (in this case hp8340b) translates into the =
GPIB command "OPCW", and based on the
> device address (which is governed by the atom in the first argument), =
dispatches it over a bus handle that it owns
> in a state variable via bus:send_query/2. =20
>=20
> At the moment, we only communicate with things over GPIB via ethernet =
using prologix devices to do the translation
> for us - basically glorified telnet - but it gets the job done.  =
Everything is in a very alpha stage right now for this project,
> but it is working really nicely so far.
>=20
> JK
>=20
> On Mar 13, 2012, at 12:20 PM, Pablo Platt wrote:
>=20
> How do you interact with the hardware?
> >Do you use GPIB C libr and wrap it with a NIF?
> >
> >
> >
> >________________________________
> > From: Joe Armstrong <erl...@gmail.com>
> >To: Jared Kofron <jared.na...@gmail.com>
> >Cc: Erlang Questions <erlang-questi...@erlang.org>
> >Sent: Tuesday, March 13, 2012 12:34 PM
> >Subject: Re: [erlang-questions] Erlang meets physics
> >
> >Great news - spread the word !
> >
> >Just for the record Erlang programmers numbers 1 and 2 (ie myself and
> >Robert Virding)
> >are both ex physicists.
> >
> >When I lecture I often point out the similarity between causality and
> >message reception.
> >You don't know that something has happened until you get a message
> >telling that it has happened.
> >
> >(In physics it's a ray of light, or a photon, or something -
> >forgetting entanglement for the moment)
> >
> >In computing it's the reception of a message.
> >
> >As a ex physicist I know that we can't say anything about =
simultaneous
> >events occurring
> >at different places in space-time - turn this into computer science
> >and the same arguments
> >apply to things like making sure replicated data is consistent on
> >remote sites - well you can't
> >- at least if you want to change it - Brewer's CAP theorem applies -
> >which for a physicist makes
> >perfect sense.
> >
> >Also as an ex physicist
> I realize that things do actually happen in
> >parallel in the real world,
> >so modelling them in a sequential programming language (if I wanted =
to do that)
> >is big time crazy - just describe the parallel stuff in a concurrent
> >language and the program
> >writes itself. Wait a few years till we have million core computers
> >and the parallel problems
> >can be solved 1:1 on parallel computers - and programming simulations
> >and so on will be
> >really easy - but don't even think about doing it in a sequential =
language...
> >
> >Cheers
> >
> >/Joe
> >
> >
> >On Mon, Mar 12, 2012 at 2:34 AM, Jared Kofron <jared.na...@gmail.com> =
wrote:
> >> Hi All,
> >> I've been using Erlang at work for a few years now, and I thought =
I'd throw my experience out there, as
> >> my application is a little different than what you usually see on =
the list - I am a graduate
> student at the
> >> Center for Nuclear Physics and Astrophysics at the University of =
Washington, and use Erlang extensively
> >> in my work.
> >>
> >> In my experience, something that Erlang is really great at but =
doesn't receive much attention for these days
> >> is managing and interacting with hardware.  In any physics =
experiment of even modest sizes, you wind up
> >> having to keep track of the state of various pieces of equipment, =
often modify that state, and constantly
> >> interrogate particular values.  For example, we might want to =
change the current in a magnetic trap, turn
> >> that trap off altogether, or simply read back the voltage drop =
across our superconducting magnet.
> >>
> >> So far, I have deployed Erlang in this zone for two separate =
experiments (SNO+, a large particle physics
> >> experiment in Canada) and Project 8 (a small nuclear physics =
experiment here in Seattle).  Both times
> have
> >> been great successes, and I have found the reception of Erlang in =
this market to be great.  In general, what
> >> I have done is wrap a hardware management layer with some kind of =
outside world interface. For SNO+, we
> >> used Webmachine and RESTful control, and for Project 8 we actually =
conduct all communication
> >> by using CouchDB as a message passing interface.
> >>
> >> Physicists are suspicious creatures, but once you demonstrate the =
feature set that you get for practically
> >> free with OTP, they see the advantage pretty quickly.  On top of =
that, the development cycle for sophisticated
> >> applications can be greatly reduced - more than once it made my =
group float to the top in terms of meeting
> >> goals.
> >>
> >> In short, as far as I am concerned, Erlang has found a new niche in =
the world of Physics, and I intend to
> >> spread the word as much as I can!
> >>
> >> Jared
> Kofron
> >> _______________________________________________
> >> erlang-questions mailing list
> >> erlang-questi...@erlang.org
> >> http://erlang.org/mailman/listinfo/erlang-questions
> >_______________________________________________
> >erlang-questions mailing list
> >erlang-questi...@erlang.org
> >http://erlang.org/mailman/listinfo/erlang-questions
> >
> >
> >
>=20
> _______________________________________________
> erlang-questions mailing list
> erlang-questi...@erlang.org
> http://erlang.org/mailman/listinfo/erlang-questions
> _______________________________________________
> erlang-questions mailing list
> erlang-questi...@erlang.org
> http://erlang.org/mailman/listinfo/erlang-questions
>=20
> _______________________________________________
> erlang-questions mailing list
> erlang-questi...@erlang.org
> http://erlang.org/mailman/listinfo/erlang-questions


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<html><head></head><body style=3D"word-wrap: break-word; =
-webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; =
"><div><br></div><div><div>On Mar 14, 2012, at 5:21 PM, CGS =
wrote:</div><br class=3D"Apple-interchange-newline"><blockquote =
type=3D"cite">Hi,<br><br>Firstly, I am glad to see physicists getting =
interest in Erlang.<br><br>I see Erlang best usage in physics in few =
fields from Astrophysics/Astroparticle Physics/Elementary Particle =
Physics:<br>1. GRID;<br>2. integrated in the readout of an array of =
detectors for atmospheric =
showers,<br></blockquote><div><br></div><div>Very true, these are great =
test cases for Erlang. &nbsp;EPICS is a project that accelerator folks =
wrote a long time ago (and still use and maintain to an =
extent)</div><div>that I think is a no-brainer application for =
Erlang:&nbsp;<a =
href=3D"http://www.aps.anl.gov/epics/">http://www.aps.anl.gov/epics/</a>. =
&nbsp;It is written in C and forms a distributed data acquisition =
system.</div><div><br></div><blockquote type=3D"cite">but there are few =
fields in which Erlang still cannot replace C/C++ (or Verilog in some =
cases):<br>1. accelerator (high and medium energy) physics (high =
frequency readout may not be compatible with Erlang, or =
vice-versa);</blockquote><blockquote type=3D"cite">
2. Monte Carlo simulations (even if it provides nice concurrency and =
code hot swap, it lacks some quite important =
characteristics).</blockquote><blockquote type=3D"cite"><br>There may be =
some other fields from physics where Erlang may be suitable (except for =
communications for which is intended), but I am not the person to speak =
about. Nevertheless, it's good to know Erlang enters the above mentioned =
fields.<br>
<br>Good luck!<br>CGS<br><br><br><br><br><div class=3D"gmail_quote">On =
Wed, Mar 14, 2012 at 4:33 PM, Pablo Platt <span dir=3D"ltr">&lt;<a =
href=3D"mailto:pablo.pl...@yahoo.com">pablo.pl...@yahoo.com</a>&gt;</span>=
 wrote:<br><blockquote class=3D"gmail_quote" style=3D"margin:0 0 0 =
.8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
<div class=3D"im">&gt;which the device module (in this case hp8340b) =
translates into the GPIB command "OPCW", and based on the<br>
&gt;device address (which is governed by the atom in the first =
argument), dispatches it over a bus handle that it owns<br>
&gt;in a state variable via&nbsp;bus:send_query/2.&nbsp;&nbsp;<br>
<br>
</div>Can you explain how the device module translate to the GPIB =
command "OPCW"?<br>
Is it pure erlang?<br>
Maybe you can share some code?<br>
<br>
Thanks<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
________________________________<br>
From: Jared Kofron &lt;<a =
href=3D"mailto:jared.na...@gmail.com">jared.na...@gmail.com</a>&gt;<br>
To: Erlang Questions &lt;<a =
href=3D"mailto:erlang-questi...@erlang.org">erlang-questi...@erlang.org</a=
>&gt;<br>
Sent: Wednesday, March 14, 2012 1:43 AM<br>
<div><div></div><div class=3D"h5">Subject: Re: [erlang-questions] Erlang =
meets physics<br>
<br>
<br>
Hi Pablo-<br>
My first project was on embedded hardware, and basically consisted of =
NIFs and Webmachine dispatching.<br>
Pretty fun stuff. &nbsp;<br>
<br>
My current project is a little more involved, but is also pretty =
interesting:<br>
<br>
Right now the bus over which communication takes place is abstracted =
away by having hardware modules<br>
which translate API functions into their appropriate wire representation =
and then transmit those representations<br>
over a handle that they have to the correct bus. &nbsp;<br>
<br>
In essence what I've done is taken instruments and buses and given them =
something like behaviors. &nbsp;<br>
Hardware can perform read,write,or configure, for example. &nbsp;So if I =
want to read the center frequency of a sweeper,<br>
I might say<br>
<br>
hp8340b:read(high_frequency_sweeper,&lt;&lt;"cw_freq"&gt;&gt;).<br>
<br>
which the device module (in this case hp8340b) translates into the GPIB =
command "OPCW", and based on the<br>
device address (which is governed by the atom in the first argument), =
dispatches it over a bus handle that it owns<br>
in a state variable via&nbsp;bus:send_query/2. &nbsp;<br>
<br>
At the moment, we only communicate with things over GPIB via ethernet =
using prologix devices to do the translation<br>
for us - basically glorified telnet - but it gets the job done. =
&nbsp;Everything is in a very alpha stage right now for this =
project,<br>
but it is working really nicely so far.<br>
<br>
JK<br>
<br>
On Mar 13, 2012, at 12:20 PM, Pablo Platt wrote:<br>
<br>
How do you interact with the hardware?<br>
&gt;Do you use GPIB C libr and wrap it with a NIF?<br>
&gt;<br>
&gt;<br>
&gt;<br>
&gt;________________________________<br>
&gt; From: Joe Armstrong &lt;<a =
href=3D"mailto:erl...@gmail.com">erl...@gmail.com</a>&gt;<br>
&gt;To: Jared Kofron &lt;<a =
href=3D"mailto:jared.na...@gmail.com">jared.na...@gmail.com</a>&gt;<br>
&gt;Cc: Erlang Questions &lt;<a =
href=3D"mailto:erlang-questi...@erlang.org">erlang-questi...@erlang.org</a=
>&gt;<br>
&gt;Sent: Tuesday, March 13, 2012 12:34 PM<br>
&gt;Subject: Re: [erlang-questions] Erlang meets physics<br>
&gt;<br>
&gt;Great news - spread the word !<br>
&gt;<br>
&gt;Just for the record Erlang programmers numbers 1 and 2 (ie myself =
and<br>
&gt;Robert Virding)<br>
&gt;are both ex physicists.<br>
&gt;<br>
&gt;When I lecture I often point out the similarity between causality =
and<br>
&gt;message reception.<br>
&gt;You don't know that something has happened until you get a =
message<br>
&gt;telling that it has happened.<br>
&gt;<br>
&gt;(In physics it's a ray of light, or a photon, or something -<br>
&gt;forgetting entanglement for the moment)<br>
&gt;<br>
&gt;In computing it's the reception of a message.<br>
&gt;<br>
&gt;As a ex physicist I know that we can't say anything about =
simultaneous<br>
&gt;events occurring<br>
&gt;at different places in space-time - turn this into computer =
science<br>
&gt;and the same arguments<br>
&gt;apply to things like making sure replicated data is consistent =
on<br>
&gt;remote sites - well you can't<br>
&gt;- at least if you want to change it - Brewer's CAP theorem applies =
-<br>
&gt;which for a physicist makes<br>
&gt;perfect sense.<br>
&gt;<br>
&gt;Also as an ex physicist<br>
I realize that things do actually happen in<br>
&gt;parallel in the real world,<br>
&gt;so modelling them in a sequential programming language (if I wanted =
to do that)<br>
&gt;is big time crazy - just describe the parallel stuff in a =
concurrent<br>
&gt;language and the program<br>
&gt;writes itself. Wait a few years till we have million core =
computers<br>
&gt;and the parallel problems<br>
&gt;can be solved 1:1 on parallel computers - and programming =
simulations<br>
&gt;and so on will be<br>
&gt;really easy - but don't even think about doing it in a sequential =
language...<br>
&gt;<br>
&gt;Cheers<br>
&gt;<br>
&gt;/Joe<br>
&gt;<br>
&gt;<br>
&gt;On Mon, Mar 12, 2012 at 2:34 AM, Jared Kofron &lt;<a =
href=3D"mailto:jared.na...@gmail.com">jared.na...@gmail.com</a>&gt; =
wrote:<br>
&gt;&gt; Hi All,<br>
&gt;&gt; I've been using Erlang at work for a few years now, and I =
thought I'd throw my experience out there, as<br>
&gt;&gt; my application is a little different than what you usually see =
on the list - I am a graduate<br>
student at the<br>
&gt;&gt; Center for Nuclear Physics and Astrophysics at the University =
of Washington, and use Erlang extensively<br>
&gt;&gt; in my work.<br>
&gt;&gt;<br>
&gt;&gt; In my experience, something that Erlang is really great at but =
doesn't receive much attention for these days<br>
&gt;&gt; is managing and interacting with hardware. &nbsp;In any physics =
experiment of even modest sizes, you wind up<br>
&gt;&gt; having to keep track of the state of various pieces of =
equipment, often modify that state, and constantly<br>
&gt;&gt; interrogate particular values. &nbsp;For example, we might want =
to change the current in a magnetic trap, turn<br>
&gt;&gt; that trap off altogether, or simply read back the voltage drop =
across our superconducting magnet.<br>
&gt;&gt;<br>
&gt;&gt; So far, I have deployed Erlang in this zone for two separate =
experiments (SNO+, a large particle physics<br>
&gt;&gt; experiment in Canada) and Project 8 (a small nuclear physics =
experiment here in Seattle). &nbsp;Both times<br>
have<br>
&gt;&gt; been great successes, and I have found the reception of Erlang =
in this market to be great. &nbsp;In general, what<br>
&gt;&gt; I have done is wrap a hardware management layer with some kind =
of outside world interface. For SNO+, we<br>
&gt;&gt; used Webmachine and RESTful control, and for Project 8 we =
actually conduct all communication<br>
&gt;&gt; by using CouchDB as a message passing interface.<br>
&gt;&gt;<br>
&gt;&gt; Physicists are suspicious creatures, but once you demonstrate =
the feature set that you get for practically<br>
&gt;&gt; free with OTP, they see the advantage pretty quickly. &nbsp;On =
top of that, the development cycle for sophisticated<br>
&gt;&gt; applications can be greatly reduced - more than once it made my =
group float to the top in terms of meeting<br>
&gt;&gt; goals.<br>
&gt;&gt;<br>
&gt;&gt; In short, as far as I am concerned, Erlang has found a new =
niche in the world of Physics, and I intend to<br>
&gt;&gt; spread the word as much as I can!<br>
&gt;&gt;<br>
&gt;&gt; Jared<br>
Kofron<br>
&gt;&gt; _______________________________________________<br>
&gt;&gt; erlang-questions mailing list<br>
&gt;&gt; <a =
href=3D"mailto:erlang-questi...@erlang.org">erlang-questi...@erlang.org</a=
><br>
&gt;&gt; <a href=3D"http://erlang.org/mailman/listinfo/erlang-questions" =
target=3D"_blank">http://erlang.org/mailman/listinfo/erlang-questions</a><=
br>
&gt;_______________________________________________<br>
&gt;erlang-questions mailing list<br>
&gt;<a =
href=3D"mailto:erlang-questi...@erlang.org">erlang-questi...@erlang.org</a=
><br>
&gt;<a href=3D"http://erlang.org/mailman/listinfo/erlang-questions" =
target=3D"_blank">http://erlang.org/mailman/listinfo/erlang-questions</a><=
br>
&gt;<br>
&gt;<br>
&gt;<br>
<br>
_______________________________________________<br>
erlang-questions mailing list<br>
<a =
href=3D"mailto:erlang-questi...@erlang.org">erlang-questi...@erlang.org</a=
><br>
<a href=3D"http://erlang.org/mailman/listinfo/erlang-questions" =
target=3D"_blank">http://erlang.org/mailman/listinfo/erlang-questions</a><=
br>
_______________________________________________<br>
erlang-questions mailing list<br>
<a =
href=3D"mailto:erlang-questi...@erlang.org">erlang-questi...@erlang.org</a=
><br>
<a href=3D"http://erlang.org/mailman/listinfo/erlang-questions" =
target=3D"_blank">http://erlang.org/mailman/listinfo/erlang-questions</a><=
br>
</div></div></blockquote></div><br>
_______________________________________________<br>erlang-questions =
mailing list<br><a =
href=3D"mailto:erlang-questi...@erlang.org">erlang-questi...@erlang.org</a=
><br>http://erlang.org/mailman/listinfo/erlang-questions<br></blockquote><=
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