Numerical programming

In-Depth

Leading mathematics software vendors are working together to define a consistent and manageable foundation for numerical programming.

Leading mathematics software vendors and interested individuals from industry and academia are working together to define a consistent and manageable foundation for numerical programming.

They have formed the Numerical Mathematics Consortium which is committed to establishing an open mathematical semantics standard for numerical algorithm development to enable portability and reuse among tools, platforms and disciplines.

“Our industry has been lacking a unified and standardised mathematical foundation for a long time,” said Ali Maleki, Brake and Chassis Electronics program manager at ArvinMeritor.

“Today, each tool offers its own specific set of functions with often steep learning curves, which require us to develop algorithms and skills that are not easily portable across the industry. These algorithms must be rewritten with new projects and new technologies, which ultimately drive our costs higher. A standard set of mathematical functions based on industry-accepted semantics would go a long way in creating portable skills and off-the-shelf libraries and tools that would be plug-and-play in various environments and help our bottom line.”

The organisation’s objective is to create a specification that defines core mathematical function definitions applicable to numeric algorithms.

These algorithms can then be implemented in a wide variety of application areas such as industrial control, embedded design and scientific research, as well as be easily shared among researchers and developers in industry and academia.

Numerical Mathematics Consortium founding members include INRIA (Scilab Publisher), Maplesoft, Mathsoft and National Instruments.

Numerous individuals from leading industry and academia are supporting the consortium in an advisory role to provide review and guidance on the development of the technical standards.

Other vendors and individuals interested in taking an active role in standardising numerical mathematics can visit the Web site at www.nmconsortium.org for information on joining the consortium.