85 lines
2.8 KiB
Markdown
85 lines
2.8 KiB
Markdown
# Second Racket implementation of Syndicate
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## The language itself
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This repository contains a [Racket](http://racket-lang.org/)
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implementation of Syndicate, which includes
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- the implementation of the `#lang syndicate` language, in the
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[`syndicate` directory](syndicate/).
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- a TCP echo server example, which listens for connections on port
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5999 by default, in
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[`syndicate-examples/echo.rkt`](syndicate-examples/echo.rkt).
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Connect to it using, for example, `telnet localhost 5999`.
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- a number of other examples both small and large, in
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[`syndicate-examples/`](syndicate-examples/).
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## New implementation
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This is a reimplementation of Syndicate that takes the language-level
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constructs of facets, endpoints, and fields to heart, integrating
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knowledge of facets and endpoints into the dataspace implementation
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itself.
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It gains a *significant* performance advantage by doing so.
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Programs seem to be about *20x faster* (compared to the
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[previous implementation](https://github.com/tonyg/syndicate/tree/master/racket)).
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Some are only 10x faster, some are 30x faster.
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The implementation techniques herein are the subject of a forthcoming
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paper. The prototype that embodies the new idea is in
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[historical/prototype.rkt](historical/prototype.rkt), and
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[syndicate/HOWITWORKS.md](syndicate/HOWITWORKS.md) describes the
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approach via prose.
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All the drivers end up looking much nicer with this new
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implementation. The previously-separate GL-2D support is now
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integrated as just another driver (though the timing characteristics
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of the old implementation are not precisely preserved). The
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[ground.rkt](syndicate/ground.rkt) implementation is much cleaner.
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To see the difference in speed, try out the "many Racket logos"
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animation example/demo after installing the `syndicate` and
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`syndicate-examples` packages:
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racket -l syndicate-examples/gl-2d-many
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Hopefully you'll get a smooth 60fps, though I admit I'm running it on
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a fairly fast machine so you might need to drop the `sprite-count` in
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the code a bit to sustain 60fps.
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## Compiling and running the code
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You will need Racket version 7.6 or later.
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Once you have Racket installed, run
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raco pkg install syndicate
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to install the package from the Racket package repository, or
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raco pkg install --link syndicate
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from the root directory of the Git checkout to install the package
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from a local snapshot. This will make `#lang syndicate` available to
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programs.
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Repeat the process with `syndicate-examples` in place of `syndicate`
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to install the examples as well.
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Alternatively, `make link` from the root directory of the Git checkout
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installs both packages from the local copy.
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### Running the tests
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The implementation test suite lives in [syndicate/test/](syndicate/test/). Run it with:
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raco setup syndicate; raco test -p syndicate
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## Copyright
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Copyright © Tony Garnock-Jones 2010-2020.
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