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Re: [h5md-user] Mandate Variable-length string datatype
From: |
Pierre de Buyl |
Subject: |
Re: [h5md-user] Mandate Variable-length string datatype |
Date: |
Tue, 24 Sep 2013 12:32:20 +0200 |
User-agent: |
Mutt/1.5.21 (2010-09-15) |
On Tue, Sep 24, 2013 at 11:06:57AM +0200, Konrad Hinsen wrote:
> Peter Colberg writes:
>
> > Abstractions are very hard to get right. To day I have not seen a
> > single C++ interface to HDF5 that is useful beyond the initial goals
> > at its conception.
>
> I am tempted to make some mean comments about C++, but I can just
> force myself to shut up ;-)
>
> > While it is important to have high-level interfaces that guide new
> > H5MD users (e.g., pyh5md), it is equally important to support those
> > users that write high-performance programs using the HDF5 API.
>
> Another nice illustration for the importance of practicalities.
>
> In this particular case, we have
>
> 1) String data in trajectories are usually small in amount (I have yet
> to see a use for time-dependent string data), so efficiency of storage
> and access is of secondary importance.
>
> 2) In high-level languages such as Python, dealing with any kind of string
> data is easy enough.
>
> The priority in defining the layout for string data should thus be to
> reduce the barrier for dealing with H5MD in low-level languages. My
> own experience is C, which makes me prefer variable-length strings,
> but of course there are other languages to take into consideration.
Fortran allows both and both require some work (a few extra commands to manage
the strings).
> > Keeping the choice between fixed- and variable-length strings will
> > simply mean that many writers and readers will not be interoperable,
> > even if they use the same domain-specific data.
>
> Here are the pros and cons as I see them:
>
> Mandatory string type (either fixed or variable)
>
> + simplifies software for reading H5MD
>
> User's choice of string type
>
> + simplifies software for writing H5MD
>
> - likely to create incompatibilities because people will write
> H5MD readers with a specific "dialect" in mind
>
> Personally that makes me favor a mandatory single string type.
My opinion also goes toward simplicity, that is a "variable length strings for
everyone".
P
- Re: [h5md-user] Mandate Variable-length string datatype, (continued)
- Re: [h5md-user] Mandate Variable-length string datatype, Konrad Hinsen, 2013/09/24
- Re: [h5md-user] Mandate Variable-length string datatype, Felix Höfling, 2013/09/24
- Re: [h5md-user] Mandate Variable-length string datatype, Konrad Hinsen, 2013/09/24
- Re: [h5md-user] Mandate Variable-length string datatype, Felix Höfling, 2013/09/24
- Re: [h5md-user] Mandate Variable-length string datatype, Peter Colberg, 2013/09/24
- Re: [h5md-user] Mandate Variable-length string datatype, Felix Höfling, 2013/09/25
- Re: [h5md-user] Mandate Variable-length string datatype,
Pierre de Buyl <=