Subject: Colt 1.0 Beta 2 now available

From: Wolfgang HOSCHEK <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 07 May 1999 14:50:08 +0200

This is to announce the release of Colt V1.0 Beta 2, developed at CERN.

Check out the online documentation and/or download at
http://nicewww.cern.ch/~hoschek/colt/index.htm
Changes since Colt 1.0 Beta 1:
http://nicewww.cern.ch/~hoschek/colt/document.htm

Overview
========
Colt (Collections tuned) is a free Java toolkit containing high
performance data structures and algorithms.
It targets needs arsising in large scale high performance applications
like database management systems, scientific computations, simulations
etc. where billions of objects and numbers (!) are processed. Such
applications must scale, deliver high performance while consuming only
reasonable amounts of memory. These needs are not sufficiently addressed
by toolkits such as JDK 1.2 (alias Java 2), JGL 3.1 and others. Colt is
not intended to be as complete and generic as JGL and JDK. Rather it
provides optimized implementations for the essentials and features not
found there.

Features
========
1.Templated ArrayLists. 
These are several resizable lists together with high performance
implementations of frequently used algorithms. All classes are templated
to be able to hold objects or primitive data types such as int, double,
float, etc.. These classes allow to use high level algorithms on
primitive data types without any space and time overhead. Operations on
primitive arrays, algorithms of templated ArrayLists and JAL algorithms
(see below) can freely be mixed at zero copy overhead.

2.Templated HashSets, HashMultiSets & HashMaps.
These are resizable sets, multi sets and maps templated just in the very
same way as templated ArrayLists.

3.BitVectors & BitMatrices.
Space efficient high performance implementations blasting away, for
example, java.util.Bitset. 

4.Random Numbers and Random Sampling. 
Implement and/or delegate to some of the best and fastest techniques in
the field. Includes the RngPack package from Paul Houle.

5.JAL.
Contains JAL, the free Java Algorithm Library. Provides templated
algorithms and complements the templated ArrayLists with broad and quick
functionality. Written by Silicon Graphics.

You are very much welcome to participate, either by sending bug reports,
comments, improvements, extensions or entire independent new packages
that fill open gaps. Colt is free.

Wolfgang Hoschek.
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Wolfgang Hoschek     | e-mail: [email-masked]
CERN IT Division     | phone:  +41 (22) 767 8089
European Laboratory  | fax:    +41 (22) 767 7155 
for Particle Physics | home:   http://www.cern.ch/CERN/Divisions/EP/HL
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