Communication between computer Go programs

[Peter.Smith@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

I read the discussion a few days ago about GMP and possible replacements
with interest.  I would really like to see something happen here, as it
would be both beneficial and not a lot of work to do.

Rather than definitions of over-the-wire protocol what I would hope for is a
simple API for a Go program to use when playing other Go programs.  Perhaps
you would need 8 functions to do the following:

	o	Register / deregister program instance
	o	Send / receive start of game
	o	Send / receive move (sent as a SGF formatted string?)
	o	Send / receive end of game

In Windows this could be realised as a DLL which a Go program could
dynamically load.

You could have different varieties of the DLL:

	o	One based on Wally or some other simple Go program for
testing
	o	One based on GMP
	o	One which two Go programs could use when running on the same
box
	o	One based on other protocols?

I would be happy to put some effort into achieving something along these
lines.  I know of DLL(s) used for tournaments but not what their API is.  

Peter.