Atom (programming language): Difference between revisions

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{{notabilityNotability|date=March 2018}}

{{Infobox programming language

| name = Atom

| logo =

| paradigm = [[functionalFunctional programming|functional]], [[Synchronous programming language|synchronous]], [[Reactive programming|reactive]]

| designer = Thomas Hawkins

| year = 2007

| developer =

| designer = Thomas Hawkins

| released = {{Start date and age|2007}}

| developer =

| latest release version = 1.0.13

| latest_release_version =

| latest release date = {{Start date and age|2021|11|13}}

| latest_release_date =

| typing = [[staticStatic typing|static]], [[strongStrong and weak typing|strong]]

| latest_test_version =

| implementations =

| latest_test_date =

| dialects =

| typing = [[static typing|static]], [[strong typing|strong]]

| influenced =

| implementations =

| influenced_by influenced by = [[Bluespec, Inc.|Bluespec]], Confluence, [[Haskell (programming language)|Haskell]]

| dialects =

| operating system = [[Cross-platform software|Cross-platform]]

| influenced =

| license = [[BSD licenses|BSD]]3

| influenced_by = [[Bluespec, Inc.|Bluespec]], Confluence, [[Haskell (programming language)|Haskell]]

| website = http://{{URL|hackage.haskell.org/package/atom/}}

| operating_system = portable

| file ext =

| license = [[Bsd license|BSD3]]

| website = http://hackage.haskell.org/package/atom/

| file ext =

}}

'''Atom''' is a [[___domain-specific language]] (DSL) in [[Haskell (programming language)|Haskell]], for designing [[Real-time computing|real-time]] [[Embeddedembedded programming|embeddedsoftware]] software.

== History ==

Originally intended as a [[high-level programming language|high-level]] [[hardware description language]] (HDL), Atom was created in early 2007 and released as [[free and open-source software]] (FOSS) of April of that year.<ref>{{Cite report |url=http://www.haskell.org/pipermail/haskell-cafe/2007-April/024090.html |title=ANN: Atom: Yet another Haskell HDL}}</ref> Inspired by TRS<ref name="hoe1">{{Cite conference |last1=Hoe |first1=James C. |author2=Arvind |author2-link=Arvind (computer scientist) |date=November 2000 |url=http://www.ece.cmu.edu/~jhoe/distribution/2000/iccad00.pdf |title=Synthesis of Operation-Centric Hardware Descriptions |conference=International Conference on Computer Aided Design (ICCAD)}}</ref> and [[Bluespec]], Atom [[Compiler|compiled]] circuit descriptions, that were based on guarded [[Linearizability|atomic operations]], or conditional term [[rewriting]], into [[Verilog]] [[netlist]]s for simulation and [[logic synthesis]]. As a hardware compiler, Atom's main objective is to maximize the number of operations, or rules, that can execute in a given [[Clock signal#Digital circuits|clock cycle]] without violating the semantics of atomic operation. By employing the properties of conflict-free and sequentially composable rules,<ref name="hoe1"/> Atom reduced maximizing execution [[Concurrency (computer science)|concurrency]] to a [[feedback arc set]] optimization of a rule-data dependency graph. This process was similar to [[James Hoe]]'s original algorithm.<ref name="hoe1"/>

Originally intended as a high level [[hardware description language]], Atom was created in early 2007 and released in open-source of April of the same year.<ref>[http://www.haskell.org/pipermail/haskell-cafe/2007-April/024090.html ANN: Atom - Yet another Haskell HDL]</ref>

Inspired by TRS <ref name="hoe1">[http://www.ece.cmu.edu/~jhoe/distribution/2000/iccad00.pdf Synthesis of Operation-Centric Hardware Descriptions].

James C. Hoe and Arvind. International Conference on Computer Aided Design (ICCAD), November 2000.</ref>

and [[Bluespec]], Atom compiled circuit descriptions, that were based on guarded atomic operations, or [[Term Rewriting System|conditional term rewriting]], into [[Verilog]] [[netlist]]s for simulation and [[logic synthesis]].

As a hardware compiler, Atom's primary objective was to maximize the number of operations, or rules, that can execute in a given clock cycle without violating the semantics of atomic operation.

By employing the properties of conflict-free and sequentially composable rules,<ref name="hoe1"/> Atom reduced maximizing execution concurrency to a [[feedback arc set]] optimization of a rule-data dependency graph. This process was similar to [[James Hoe]]'s original algorithm.<ref name="hoe1" />

When Atom's author switched careers in late 2007, from logic design to [[Embedded systems|embedded software]] engineering, Atom was redesigned from an HDL to a [[___domain specific language]] targeting [[Realtime computing|hard realtime]] embedded applications. As a result, Atom's compiler's main objective changed from maximizing rule concurrency to balancing processing load and minimizing [[Worst case execution time|worst case timing latency]]. In September 2008, Atom was presented at the Commercial Users of Functional Programming (CUFP) conference.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://cufp.galois.com/2008/schedule.html |title=Controlling Hybrid Vehicles with Haskell |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080704175648/http://cufp.galois.com/2008/schedule.html |archive-date=2008-07-04 |access-date=2009-12-05}}</ref> In April 2009, in its new form, it was released as FOSS.<ref>[http://www.haskell.org/pipermail/haskell-cafe/2009-April/060602.html ANN: atom-0.0.2]</ref>

When Atom's author switched careers in late 2007 from logic design to [[Embedded systems|embedded software]] engineering, Atom was redesigned from an [[hardware description language|HDL]] to a [[___domain specific language]]

targeting [[Realtime computing|hard realtime]] embedded applications. As a result, Atom's compiler's primary objective changed from maximizing rule concurrency to balancing processing load and minimizing

[[Worst case execution time|worst case timing latency]]. In September 2008, Atom was presented at CUFP,<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://cufp.galois.com/2008/schedule.html |title=Controlling Hybrid Vehicles with Haskell. |access-date=2009-12-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080704175648/http://cufp.galois.com/2008/schedule.html |archive-date=2008-07-04 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

and in April 2009, was released as open-source in its new form.<ref>[http://www.haskell.org/pipermail/haskell-cafe/2009-April/060602.html ANN: atom-0.0.2]</ref>

== Overview ==

Atom is a concurrent programming language intended for embedded applications. Atom features [[Compilecompile time|compile-time]] task [[Scheduling (computing)|task scheduling]] and generates code with [[Determinism|deterministic]] execution time and memory consumptionuse, simplifying [[worst case execution time]] analysis for applications that requireneed hard realtime performance. Atom's concurrency model is that of guarded [[Atomicatomic action|guarded atomic actions]]s, which eliminates the need for, and the [[Lock (computer science)#The problems with locksDisadvantages|problems]] of using, [[Lock (computer science)|mutex locks]].

By removing [[Run timeRuntime (program lifecycle phase)|run-timeruntime]] task scheduling and mutex locking—twolocking, two services traditionally served by ana [[Realreal-time operating system|RTOS]]—Atom (RTOS), Atom can eliminate the need and overhead of an RTOS in embedded applications.

== Examples ==

{{Empty section|date=July 2010}}

== LimitationsLimits ==

To provide guarantees of deterministic execution time and memory consumption, Atom places several restrictions on computationcomputing. First, Atom designs are always [[Finite-state machine|finite state]]: all variables are global and declared at compile time and [[Memory management#Automatic memory management|dynamic memory allocation]] is not alloweddisallowed. Second, Atom provides no function or looping constructs. Instead, state variable updates are pure [[Combinationalcombinational logic|combinational]] functions]] of the current state.

== References ==

{{reflistReflist}}

== External links ==

*{{Official website|hackage.haskell.org/package/atom}}

*{{GitHub|tomahawkins/atom.git}}

[[Category:Declarative programming languages]]