src

Dynamic main source tree (dynamic/src/).

This directory is the root of the Python package hierarchy for the Dynamic project. It contains the demo script dynamic-demo.py, several top-level modules, and subdirectories for the various larger packages making up the simulation.

1. Software architecture.

A rough picture of the software architecture is shown below (not including standard Python modules used). Subsequent sections of this file describe the parts of this diagram. See the README.md files within individual packages for further detail.

Application script:        dynamic-demo.py
                             |         |
                           __/         \______
Packages:                 /                   \
                         /   ___________       \
                        /   /           \       \
                        |   | examples  |<--+    \
                        |   \___________/   |     \
                        |         |         |      \
                        |    _____V_____    |      |
                        |   /           \   |      |
                        |   |  boolean  |   |      |
                        |   \___________/   |      |
                        |         |         |      |
                        |    _____V_____    |      |
                        |   /           \   /      |
                        |   |  network  |  /       |
                        |   \___________/ /        |
                        |         |      /         |
                        |    _____V_____/          |
                        |   /           \          |
                        +-->| simulator |          |
                            \___________/          |
                            /     |     \          |
                           / _____V_____ \       __V__
                          / /           \ \     /     \
                          | | functions | |     | gui |
                          | \___________/ |     \_____/
                          V               V
Top-level              fixed.py   partialEvalFunc.py
    modules:                  |        |
                              V        V
                             logmaster.py
                                  |
                                  V
                              appdefs.py 

2. Application scripts.

These top-level scripts (currently there is just one) implement the complete standalone Python applications that are provided as part of the Dynamic system that the user can execute. (On Windows platforms, we recommend using the batch files provided in ..\bat\ to work with the application script.)

2.1. Main demo script (dynamic-demo.py).

This is the main application provided for demonstration and testing purposes. Currently, this just creates an example network (full adder) and simulates it for a fixed number of time steps, producing diagnostic output to the text console. It depends on the logmaster, gui and simulation packages.

3. Package subdirectories.

All of these packages depend on the logmaster top-level module. They are listed here roughly in order from highest-level to lowest-level.

3.1. Examples package (examples/).

This package defines some specialized example components (RangeBinder, MemCell) and several complete example networks such as a half-adder and full adder. Depends on the boolean, network, and functions packages.

3.2. Boolean logic package (boolean/).

This package defines Dynamic versions of several standard Boolean logic gates (currently NOT, AND, OR, XOR). Depends on the network and functions packages.

3.3. Network package (network/).

This package provides a framework for constructing networks of nodes linked to components, wherein the nodes incorporate dynamical state variables, and the components introduce interactions between the nodes. Depends on the simulator package.

3.4. Simulator package (simulator/).

This package implements the core of the simulation framework. It allows creating canonical coordinates (generalized position/momentum pairs) that are updated according to Hamiltonian functions expressed as sums of terms. Depends on the functions package and the fixed module. Also refers upwards to the examples package.

3.5. Functions package (functions/).

This low-level package defines various classes of differentiable functions.

3.6. GUI package (gui/).

This package (still under construction) will provide an interactive graphical user interface featuring animated visualizations.

4. Top-level modules.

These modules live in top level source directory for the Dynamic project and have not yet been moved into packages.

4.1. Fixed-point arithmetic module (fixed.py).

A simple module providing fixed-point arithmetic with 9 decimal places of precision. This makes it easy to ensure state updates are bit-reversible. Referenced from several places in the simulator.

4.2. Partially-evaluatable function module (partialEvalFunc.py).

This module allows defining "partially-evaluatable functions" whose arguments can be supplied incrementally, rather than all at once. (This is actually not used in the simulator in any particularly essential way at the moment, and could be removed if necessary.) It is currently referenced by the derivedDynamicFunction.py module in the simulator package.

4.3. Logging facility (logmaster.py).

A general logging framework to aid in debugging. This will be particularly essential when debugging multithreaded GUI-based applications.

4.4. Application definitions (appdefs.py).

This file (expected by the logmaster module) defines some constants naming the overall software system (Dynamic) and the main application component of that system (Dynamic.demo).