Bill wrote:
Hello everybody. One thing that I haven't seen discussed yet is the exact goals of GTP. It probably seems obvious to everybody what these goals are, but perhaps not everybody's view is exactly the same, so I think it would be good if we could put together a goals document that we can all agree on. Then when we discuss features and commands, we can always refer back to the goals document and use it to help us decide whether or not these commands fit our goals well.
Good idea.
Maybe we could even put the goals document on the "lists.lysator.liu.se" web site? In any case, it seems like it would be nice to have a place where more or less permanent documents that we have already agreed on are kept.
Yes, I can see to this. Also reference/sample code should be made available there. I won't be able to set this up until after August 19, however, since I'll leave for a mountain hike tomorrow.
- Usable to play games vs. other programs head to head.
I assume this leaves it open whether some kind of arbiter is involved or not.
- Possible to create bridges that let GMP programs play head to head
vs. GTP programs.
There's some risk for overinterpretation here. This does not say that it should be possible to translate any GTP command to a GMP equivalent.
- There must be a minimal command set that is exactly enough
commands to play head to head, no more no less! All commands required for regression tests or server play should be optional extensions that programmers need not implement.
As I've said before I think a few commands of an administrative character should also be required, like name, version, and protocol_version.
Part III - Necessary Auxiliary Programs. These are programs that we (the GTP designers) must write for GTP to be successful. All must be open source.
- An example program that implements the minimal GTP command set
properly and can play a legal game (similar to the goDummy program for GMP). 2. An arbiter to be used in head-to-head games, communicating to both programs, judging legal/illegal rules, etc. Should the arbiter know how to score a game? 3. A GMP-to-GTP bridge to allow GMP programs and GTP programs to play against each other.
In addition to this I think programs for connection to servers are fairly valuable. Gnugoclient exists for connection to NNGS and compatible servers. I assume you have some interest in providing something similar for KGS.
So what does everybody think? Anything I left out/shouldn't have included/got wrong?
At the first look it seems fairly good.
/Gunnar