Re: [boost] Bioinformatics algorithms in boost?

From: Beman Dawes (bdawes_at_[hidden])
Date: 2006-12-05 13:51:36

Robert Goldwein wrote:
> Hello all,
> 
> for my thesis, I'll be developing a self-contained framework for
> algorithms used in bioinformatics. This will include algorithms such as
> Hamming distance, Levenshtein distance or Longest common subsequence
> algorithms, gene prediction algorithms, 2D and 3D scoring matrices,
> alignment problems, etc.
> 
> Would be there - in some near future - any interest in such library?

Yes, as others have also indicated.

The real question is why you think of these as "bioinformatics 
algorithms" rather than just plain "algorithms"? Have they been 
restricted in some way that prevents them from being used for general 
purposes?

I've used Levenshtein distance variants a great deal in geographic name 
processing applications. For real-world applications, there has to be a 
way to recognize additional distances (i.e. costs) in various cases. I 
expect the same refinements apply to many problem domains. Wouldn't the 
same apply to the bioinformatics domain?

--Beman