Re: [boost] Flow-based programming library for Boost?

Subject: Re: [boost] Flow-based programming library for Boost?
From: Marcus Tomlinson (themarcustomlinson_at_[hidden])
Date: 2012-12-06 14:23:48

On 06 Dec 2012, at 8:12 PM, Jeff Flinn <Jeffrey.Flinn_at_[hidden]> wrote:

> On 12/6/2012 7:37 AM, Marcus Tomlinson wrote:
>> This is a very powerful and impressive modeling system, but its very intimidating! Don't get me wrong, this is obviously my opinion. I believe this is why so few people use (or are even aware of) flow-based programming in their projects (hobbyists + companies).
> 
> (Your posting format is difficult to respond to as it doesn't wrap properly and you should avoid top posting)
> 
> My experience has been that FBP has been used extensively and for quite some time in automotive, aerospace and general controls industries via Matlab's Simulink which allows graphical design, editing, simulation and testing, with subsequent code generation to low level (C, C++, ADA, ...).
> 
> Most of these users are Mechanical/Electrical engineers who are not particularly adept with modern C++(IMHO of course).

I'm sorry, I didn't realize I was doing that. Hope this is correct now.

Yeah, I'm aware of Simulink (and similar), its actually applications like these that inspired this library. Perhaps I was unclear on my definition of "projects". This library is designed specifically for C++ developers wanting to create flow-based projects. Whether its developing applications like Simulink, or just using it as a backend to their flow oriented applications. In my case, I originally developed DSPatch as an engine for audio process chains much like the engine behind Max MSP. My concern is that there is little out there in the form of libraries for programmers to develop flow-based application, and what is available is (in my opinion) very complex to use.

I hope that I'm not being misunderstood about the complexity of DSPatch. This library provides some pretty complex functionality such as dynamic thread count adjustment, run-time wiring, adaptive signal types, feedback loops, and branch synchronization. However, where a lot of the hard work goes in, is wrapping all that up into an easy-to-use interface, AND, perhaps more importantly (in this case), easy-to-read base library code. I'd like to think I have achieved that with DSPatch.