[boost] Re: Boost Mathematicians

From: David Abrahams (dave_at_[hidden])
Date: 2004-07-07 05:39:40

"Ralf W. Grosse-Kunstleve" <rwgk_at_[hidden]> writes:

>> > This makes it practical to accumulate the knowledge that is required
>> > to selectively skip brute force number crunching work. 
>> 
>> I can't really imagine how you do that selective skipping nor how
>> Python helps you get there.  It all sounds very much like black magic
>> over here.
>
> It is very real. I feel a bit awkward bothering you with this, but
> to backup my point, look for "Automatic termination" near the bottom
> of p. 1970 of:
>
> http://cci.lbl.gov/publications/download/ba5048_reprint.pdf
>
> I realize this is not easy to grasp for non-crystallographers.

Oh, I find it perfectly easy to grasp, at least in a general sense.
Your're using an iterative method and you want to know when your
solution is "good enough".  You've implemented a heuristic for
deciding.  Right?  What I don't understand in this is why the use of
Python makes a crucial difference in this heuristic.

-- 
Dave Abrahams
Boost Consulting
http://www.boost-consulting.com