NESL release 3.1 (November, 1995)

Once copied over to your machine, it can be unpacked by running:

	gunzip -c nesl.tar.gz | tar -xf -

Useful information

To be added to the NESL mailing list send e-mail to nesl-request@cs.cmu.edu.

New features:

• Implementation
  • A back end that uses MPI, so it now runs on any machine that supports MPI.
  • A lightweight NESL interpreter. This is useful for debugging code or when using NESL to teach parallel algorithms. Precompiled executables for the interpreter are available for a variety of machines.
• LANGUAGE Extensions
  • Passing functions as arguments.
  • A new graphics interface (demo)
  • Many new functions.

Directory structure of the release:

  BUILD           Directions on how to build NESL
  COPYRIGHT       Copyright information
  Makefile        Used for building the release
  README          This file
  bin/	         
    runnesl       The NESL executable
    vinterp.*     The VCODE interpreter, for various architectures
    xneslplot     X11 interface used for NESL graphics
    foreground.*  Scripts for executing VCODE from NESL in the foreground
    background.*  Scripts for executing VCODE from NESL in the foreground
  cvl/
    cm2/	  Source code for the CM-2 version of CVL
    cm5/	  Source code for the CM-5 version of CVL 
    cray/	  Source code for the CRAY version of CVL
    mpi/	  Source code for the MPI version of CVL
    serial/	  Source code for the serial version of CVL
  doc/		  
    cvl.ps	  The CVL manual
    manual.ps	  The NESL manual
    user.ps	  The NESL user's guide
    vcode-ref.ps  The VCODE manual
  emacs/          NESL editing mode for GNU Emacs
  examples/       Collection of NESL examples
  include/	  cvl.h include file
  lib/		  
    libcvl.a	  The CVL library
  neslseqsrc/     Source code for stand-alone NESL
  neslsrc/        Source code for NESL
  release.notes   List of changes since the last release
  utils/          Source code for xneslplot
  vcode/          Source code for the VCODE interpreter

Requirements:

How to Build

• Run make from the top-level NESL directory. This builds CVL, VCODE, and xneslplot, leaving vinterp.serial and xneslplot in the bin directory.
• Start a Common Lisp (either GNU, Allegro, CMU, or Lucid) in the top-level Nesl directory, and enter: (load "neslsrc/build.lisp")
• Follow the instructions for dumping an executable version of Nesl. This will create a file "bin/runnesl", which can be executed directly to start up Nesl.

Here is a list of machine/OS/compiler combinations we have tested VCODE with:

  Cray {C90,J90}/Unicos 8.0.x/cc 4.0.x
  CM-5/CMMD 3.0/gcc 2.6.3
  CM-5/CMMD 3.0/gcc 2.6.3 (MPICH 1.0.8)
  Paragon/OSF 1.2.7/icc (MPICH 1.0.11)
  Alpha/OSF 2.0/gcc 2.6.3 (MPICH 1.0.9)
  Sparc/SunOS 4.1.3/gcc 2.7.0 (MPICH 1.0.11)
  Sparc/SunOS 4.1.3/{gcc 2.6.3,cc}
  Sparc/Solaris/gcc 2.6.3
  RS6000/AIX 3.2.5/gcc 2.6.3

A Lightweight Sequential Implementation

  (load "load.lisp")
  (nesl)

• The graphics routines
• Tracing facilities
• Profiling facilities
• The spawn function

In this sequential version, top level expressions and function definitions are translated to lisp, compiled using the Common Lisp compiler, and then executed. A NESL file can be loaded, translated to lisp and compiled into an object file, so that subsequent loads of the file will be significantly faster.

This version has been tested on Allegro Common Lisp, CMU Common Lisp and gcl, with most testing being done on Allegro. It is expected to run on Kyoto and Lucid common lisps, and on clisp. Although we have done a reasonable job testing it, it is likely not to be as robust as the VCODE version.

How to get the Sequential Version of NESL

• Source code. The Common Lisp source code can also be obtained from the above site via anonymous ftp. The compressed tar file is nesl.seq.tar.gz.
• Binaries. The predumped compressed binaries of sequential NESL for Sparcs and AIX machines are also available. If you would like a pointer to them, send a message to nesl-request@cs.cmu.edu.

The release comes with several examples:

• A convex-hull algorithm (the recursive quickhull)
• A graph separator based on the spectral method (H. Simon)
• The NAS conjugate- gradient benchmark
• Several sorting algorithms (quicksort, bitonic-sort, odd-even-merge-sort)
• A routine for adaptive numerical integration
• An algorithm for finding graph connectivity (Awerbuch-Shiloach)
• Others: string-searching, primes-sieve, least-squares line-fitting, median

Support:

Overall the VCODE-based sequential implementation of NESL is very reliable and we have found few bugs in the past year, even though we have had many users. The Cray C90 version is also quite reliable. The MPI version is a little less stable, largely because MPI implementations are changing at a rapid rate.

The people who helped

• Guy Blelloch
• John Greiner
• Jonathan Hardwick
• Girija Narlikar
• Margaret Reid-Miller
• Jay Sipelstein
• Marco Zagha