[aplusdev] RE: A+/R

[Alexander Skomorokhov]

Hi Dan,
  Sorry for a delayed reply. We just elected so awful parliament that I
haven't turned on
  computer for a couple of days:-)

  What is the model for the A+/R integration your team is
  currently working on?
  We do nothing about this in general. I mean as a general
  approach to A+R integration (as we have done for Windows Dyalog APL+R
  integration). We are waiting until somebody clever with C knowledge will
do this.

  Meantime we do some specialized integration. First of all about tree and
rpart
  libraries (Classification and Regression Trees). We write our data from A+
to a
  Linux file and start from A+ a script. This script starts R in batch mode,
reads
  data, build a tree and writes the result in a flat file easy to read in
A+. In A+
  the function reads this file, process it and build a classifier on the
base of tree learnt in R.
  This classifier may be used in A+ as a normal function. All the steps
above also
  made as an A+ function call. So, it is not a "real" integration, but it
simplify using
  R trees from A+.

  Is it "A+ over R", i.e. A+ code can call R code, but not
  viceversa?
  Yes, we are A+ centric. What we dream about is to only call R functions
from A+ and
  pass data in both directions, of course.

  Or is it "A+ under R", i.e. R code can call A+ code,
  but not viceversa?
  Let R people to do this if they want to add the real thing like A+. (I
think they are completely
  happy with R).

  Or is it "peer level", i.e. A+ code and R code can call
  one another as a true coroutine system?
  See above.

  What about threads? Do A+ threads map 1-1 to R threads,
  or is the model more flexible?
  Unfortunately we have no model at all. I want it to be even "not
flexible":-)

  What about exception handling? What happens if A+ code
  calls R code, and the R code triggers an exception? Is
  the exception handled in R, in A+ or in both?
  See above.

  I see that more and more people from our list are interested in A+ and R
  integration. And I am very glad to see it. A+ is the brilliant language
and product,
  But together with _myriad_ of statistical and data analysis methods from R
  it would be just the best tool for data mining.

  Regards,
  Sasha.
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