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    <title>GSLL, the GNU Scientific Library for Lisp
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      <h1>GNU Scientific Library for Lisp</h1>
      <h2><a href="index.html">GSLL</a> &nbsp;
    </div>
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    <ul>
      <li><a href="#about">About</a></li>
      <li><a href="#examples">Examples</a></li>
      <li><a href="#require">Requirements</a></li>
      <li><a href="#getit">Download</a></li>
      <li><a href="#documentation">Documentation</a></li>
      <li><a href="#status">Status</a></li>
      <li><a href="#contact">Contact</a></li>
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<h2>About</h2>
<a name="about"/>
<p class="first">
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<p>The GNU Scientific Library for Lisp (GSLL) allows you to use
the <a href="http://www.gnu.org/software/gsl/">GNU Scientific Library
(GSL)</a> from <a href="http://www.lisp.org">Common Lisp</a>.  This
library provides a full range of common mathematical operations useful
to scientific and engineering applications.  The design of the GSLL
interface is such that access to most of the GSL library is possible
in a Lisp-natural way; the intent is that the user not be hampered by
the restrictions of the C language in which GSL has been written.
GSLL thus provides interactive use of GSL for getting quick answers,
even for someone not intending to program in Lisp.
</p>

<p>Topics include: polynomials, special functions, vectors and
matrices, permutations, sorting, linear algebra including BLAS,
eigensystems, fast Fourier transforms (FFT), quadrature, random numbers,
quasi-random sequences, random distributions, statistics, histograms,
N-tuples, Monte Carlo integration, simulated annealing, ordinary
differential equations, interpolation, numerical integration,
numerical differentiation, Chebyshev approximation, series
acceleration, discrete Hankel transforms, root-finding, minimization,
least-squares fitting, IEEE floating-point, discrete wavelet
transforms, basis splines, physical constants.  See
<a href="missing-features.text">missing-features.text</a>
on the status of some incomplete topics.
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</p>

<h2>Examples</h2>
<a name="examples"/>
 <p>The <a href="http://www.gnu.org/software/gsl/manual/html_node/Elliptic-Functions-_0028Jacobi_0029.html">Jacobian elliptic functions</a> <i>sn</i>, <i>cn</i>, and
 <i>dn</i> are special functions (Chapter 7):</p> 
<pre>
(jacobian-elliptic-functions 0.2d0 0.81d0)
0.19762082367187703d0
0.9802785369736752d0
0.9840560289645665d0
</pre>
<p>which returns as multiple values the three function values.  The
functions are defined only if the second argument <i>m</i> is not
greater than 1, so an error is signalled if this parameter is out of
range:
<pre>
(jacobian-elliptic-functions 0.61802d0 1.5d0)
Input domain error |m| > 1.0 in elljac.c at line 46
   [Condition of type INPUT-DOMAIN]
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<p>This is an ordinary Lisp error which may be handled with standard
definitions available in Lisp.  To take the
<a href="file:///usr/share/doc/gsl-ref-html/Level-1-GSL-BLAS-Interface.html">
complex conjugate scalar product</a> of two complex vectors of length 3:
<pre>
(cdot #2m(#c(-34.5d0 8.24d0) #c(3.29d0 -8.93d0) #c(34.12d0 -6.15d0))
      #2m(#c(49.27d0 -13.49d0) #c(32.5d0 42.73d0) #c(-17.24d0 43.31d0)))
#C(-2940.2118d0 1861.9380999999998d0)
</pre>
<p>There are over 1500 examples available from within GSLL with the
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function <code>examples</code>.  There is also a suite of over
4000 tests; many of the examples also serve as tests, and most others
are ported from GSL's tests. 
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<h2>Requirements</h2>
<a name="require"/>
<p>
GSLL should work in any Common Lisp implementation and platform
combination for which the following are supported:</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.gnu.org/software/gsl/">GSL</a>
</li>
<li><a href="http://common-lisp.net/project/cffi/">CFFI</a> and cffi-grovel,
  version 0.11.0 or newer; callbacks and <code>foreign-funcall</code> 
  must be supported.
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</li>
<li><a href="http://www.cliki.net/trivial-garbage">trivial-garbage</a>
<li><a href="http://repo.or.cz/w/antik.git">Antik</a><li><a href="http://www.cliki.net/asdf">ASDF</a></li>
<li><a href="http://repo.or.cz/w/lisp-unit.git">lisp-unit</a>, <i>(Optional)</i> necessary 
   to run the tests
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<li><a href="http://repo.or.cz/w/fsbv.git">FSBV</a>, <i>(Optional)</i> necessary 
   for functions using complex scalars or simulated annealing
<li>
  <a href="http://common-lisp.net/project/iterate/">iterate</a>
  and
  <a href="http://common-lisp.net/project/asdf-system-connections/">asdf-system-connnections</a>,
  <i>(Optional)</i> 
  provides a convenient way to iterate over elements or indices of
  vectors or matrices.
<p>Most users will not need to worry about their implementation and
  operating system, as all these are supported if the needed libraries
  are installed (see below).  The use of CLISP, however, is not
  recommended.
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</p>
<h2>Download and Install</h2>
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 <h3>Download</h3>
 <p>Use <a href="http://www.quicklisp.org/">quicklisp</a> and follow the
 instructions.  You will need to make sure that the libraries and
 header files associated with <a href="http://www.gnu.org/software/gsl/">GNU Scientific Library
(GSL)</a> and <a href="http://sourceware.org/libffi/">libffi</a> are
 installed; your distribution may name these <code>libgsl0-dev</code>
 and <code>libffi-dev</code>.  Once they are installed and you have
 loaded the quicklisp file:
 <pre>
 <p>To test your installation:
 <pre>
   (in-package :gsl)
   (lisp-unit:run-tests)</pre>
 <p>The result should look something like:
 <pre>
ABSOLUTE-DEVIATION: 1 assertions passed, 0 failed.
ABSOLUTE-SUM: 4 assertions passed, 0 failed.
AIRY: 73 assertions passed, 0 failed.</pre>
<p>... (many lines deleted) ...
<pre>
VECTOR-VARIANCE-WITH-MEAN: 10 assertions passed, 0 failed.
WEIBULL: 60 assertions passed, 0 failed.
ZETA: 6 assertions passed, 0 failed.
TOTAL: 4022 assertions passed, 1 failed, 0 execution errors.</pre>
 <p>You may see more failures; if you are not on a 64 bit platform you will see fewer assertions.
 <h3>License</h3>
<p>
This software is distributed under
the <a href="http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html">GPL</a>
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<!--and <a href="http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html">FDL</a>
	-->
; see
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the file COPYING.  There is absolutely no warranty.</p>

<h2>Documentation</h2>
<a name="documentation"/>
 <h3>General Advice</h3>
 <p>The following techniques for using the API are advised:</p>
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 <li>Find the appropriate function(s) in the <a
 href="http://www.gnu.org/software/gsl/manual/">GSL
 documentation</a>.</li>
 <li>Use the GSLL function <code>gsl-lookup</code>
  to find the equivalent GSLL function, for example
<pre>
(gsl-lookup "gsl_sf_elljac_e")
JACOBIAN-ELLIPTIC-FUNCTIONS
T
</pre>
   <p>
     to find that the Lisp function name is <code>#'jacobian-elliptic-functions</code>.  
  </li>
 <li>Look at the documentation for that Lisp function, e.g.
   <pre>(documentation #'jacobian-elliptic-functions 'function)
"The Jacobian elliptic functions sn(u|m),
  cn(u|m), dn(u|m) computed by descending Landen transformations."
   </pre>
   <p>
   to get an explanation of the arguments etc.
 </li>
 <li>Use the function <code>(examples)</code> without an argument to
 get a list of example categories.  Then use the function with a
 category name as the argument to get a list of examples under that
 category, for example
   <code>(examples 'higher-moments)</code>.  The result will be a list
   of forms, each providing an example of usage in the relevant topic.
   If the
 <a href="http://www.gnu.org/software/gsl/manual/">GSL
 documentation</a> provides an example, there will usually be the same
 or similar example provided in GSLL. <i>Note:</i> Some of the
 examples are intentionally designed to signal an error, because the
 examples also serve as a regression (unit) test suite for GSLL.</li>
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 <p>
   Some examples are not yet present in, or are too complicated for, the
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 function <code>#'examples</code>.  In this case, you need to look in
 the relevant source file; they are in either a separate file of
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 examples, or at the end of the file of definitions.
 It is advisable to look at the examples first for calculations that
 require more complex setup (generally, the later chapters in the GSL
 manual).
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 <h3>Arrays</h3>
<p>
GSLL has many functions that work on vectors (one-dimensional arrays)
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and matrices (two-dimensional arrays).  Foreign arrays are defined and
manipulated using
the <a href="http://www.common-lisp.net/project/antik/">Antik</a>
which defines generic operations on array-like objects; see the Antik
documentation for more information.  GSLL supports all array element
types that are supported by CFFI, the CL implementation, GSL, and the
platform.  This list is available in the
variable <code>grid:*array-element-types*</code>.

<h3>Passing functions</h3>
 <p>
 Functions that are passed to GSL functions (known as <i>callbacks</i>
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 in C) are specified with a
 <a href="http://www.lispworks.com/documentation/HyperSpec/Body/26_glo_f.htm#function_designator">function
 designator</a> for the CL function, that is, either the function
 object itself or a symbol denoting the function.
 There is usually an option <code>scalarsp</code> for functions
 that take or return arrays that, if true, will
 send the user function the argument element by element, and expect
 the return values to be the individual elements. 
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 <h3>GSL objects</h3>
<p>
There are a number of GSL objects other than arrays that can be
created: 
<pre>
acceleration interpolation levin levin-truncated spline
nonlinear-ffit nonlinear-fdffit
one-dimensional-root-solver-f one-dimensional-root-solver-fdf
multi-dimensional-minimizer-f multi-dimensional-minimizer-fdf
fit-workspace one-dimensional-minimizer
multi-dimensional-root-solver-f multi-dimensional-root-solver-fdf
histogram histogram2d histogram-pdf histogram2d-pdf
basis-spline chebyshev hankel wavelet wavelet-workspace
random-number-generator quasi-random-number-generator discrete-random
polynomial-complex-workspace integration-workspace
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eigen-symm eigen-symmv eigen-herm eigen-hermv
eigen-nonsymm eigen-nonsymmv eigen-gensymm eigen-gensymmv
eigen-gen eigen-genv
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monte-carlo-plain monte-carlo-miser monte-carlo-vegas
ode-stepper ode-evolution standard-control y-control
yp-control scaled-control
fft-real-wavetable-double-float fft-real-wavetable-single-float
fft-real-workspace-double-float fft-real-workspace-single-float
fft-complex-wavetable-double-float fft-complex-wavetable-single-float
fft-complex-workspace-double-float fft-complex-workspace-single-float
fft-half-complex-wavetable-double-float fft-half-complex-wavetable-single-float
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</pre>
<p>
An instance may be created with a function whose name is "make-"
followed by the class name, e.g. <code>make-histogram</code>.  The
arguments that the function takes depends on the class.
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</p>

 <h3>Additional definitions</h3>
<p>
Some definitions are provided because of their usefulness, even though
GSL doesn't have them.  
<ul>
  <li><code>invert-matrix</code> finds the inverse of a matrix and uses
  GSL's LU decomposition functions.</li>
  <li>IEEE floating point number analysis.</li>
  <li><code>fft-frequency-vector</code> returns a vector where the sample
  frequencies are contained. If you perform an FFT on a vector of a given size
  and :sample-size, this vector will contain the sample frequencies in order.
  If the :shifted keyword is T, then the frequencies are ordered in ascending
  order.</li>
  <li><code>fft-shift</code> returns a copy of a vector where the zero
  frequency has been shifted to the center; the frequency components will be
  sorted according to their frequency, in ascending order. Optionally, a
  :stride can be provided.</li>
  <li><code>fft-inverse-shift</code> performs the inverse action of fft-shift;
  the zero and positive frequency components are shifted to the beginning,
  so that the resulting vector is suitable for an inverse FFT. Optionally, a
  :stride can be provided.</li>
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</ul>

<h2>Status</h2>
<a name="status"/>
<p>
GSLL is largely complete and usable, with functioning interfaces to
most of GSL.  Some functionality is not yet ported; see
<a href="missing-features.text">missing-features.text</a>
for more details.  Known bugs are documented in
<a href="status.text">status.text</a>.  Work is ongoing to both
remedy those deficiencies and to simplify the user interface by
changing more required arguments into optional or key arguments with
useful default values.  Typically, these arguments bind GSL objects
and arrays used internally or for function return.
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<h2>Contact</h2>
<a name="contact"/>
<p>There is a <a
 href="http://common-lisp.net/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/gsll-devel">mailing
 list</a> for all aspects of this project, including bug reports.  In
 addition, I am frequently on #lisp IRC channel as LiamH.
</p>
<p>For bug reports, please use the mailing list.  If you have
patch(es) and use git, please commit your changes and do: 
<pre>git format-patch origin</pre>
<p>This will produce one or more files whose names start with a
four-digit number; please attach them all to your email.
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