Interaction-based Programming in MGS

Antoine Spicher (1) , Jean-Louis Giavitto (2, 3)

1 LACL - Laboratoire d'Algorithmique Complexité et Logique
2 MuTant - Synchronous Realtime Processing and Programming of Music Signals
3 Repmus - Représentations musicales

The modeling and simulation of morphogenetic phenomena require to take into account the coupling between the processes that take place in a space and the modification of that space due to those processes, leading to a chicken-and-egg problem. To cope with this issue, we propose to consider a growing structure as the byproduct of a multitude of interactions between its constitutive elements. An interaction-based model of computation relying on spatial relationships is then developed leading to an original style of programming implemented in the MGS programming language. While MGS seems to be at first glance a domain specific programming language, its underlying interaction-based paradigm is also relevant to support the development of generic programming mechanisms. We show how the specification of space independent computations achieves polytypism and we develop a direct interpretation of well-known differential operators in term of data movements.

Mots clés: unconventional computing; rule-based programming; topological transformation; simulation; complex systems; mesh subdivision; meristem growth; interaction; causality; algebraic topology; simplicial complex; causal set; rewriting; polytypisme; generic programming; collection; discrete differential calculus; cochain; discrete laplacian; Toda Lattice Equations

Domaines: Langage de programmation [cs.PL]; Topologie algébrique [math.AT]; Modélisation et simulation; Théorie et langage formel [cs.FL]

Antoine Spicher, Jean-Louis Giavitto. Interaction-based Programming in MGS. Andrew Adamatzky. Advances in Unconventional Computing - Volume 1: Theory, 22, Springer, pp.305-342, 2017, Series: Emergence, Complexity and Computation, 978-3-319-33923-8. ⟨10.1007/978-3-319-33924-5⟩. ⟨hal-01377667⟩