computer-go: Engineering (was: Most simple Go rules)

[Christian Nentwich <c.nentwich@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

> I've never seen the GMP as a satisfactory solution. Wouldn't it be much
> better to use a Go server as a tournament referee, having all the programs
> communicate through TCP/IP? In straightforward cases, the server can run on

This has come up before. The answer is noone is willing to invest time.

The truth is, the methods used by go servers on the internet and GMP are 
adhoc and horribly out of date. All of the problems discussed here can be 
addressed by proper software engineering.  Martin Mueller wrote a paper a 
while ago in which he pointed out the benefits of rigorous software 
engineering as Go programs become large.

Interfaces to servers could be in a standard interface format such as IDL or 
even in XML. A simple middleware such as XMLRPC could be used for 
communication (implementations exist for most programming languages in use 
today). Interfaces and a unit test server could be defined and managed by a 
group of individuals. Distribution would be hidden behind the middleware and 
you could run your competition in any way you like, connection multiple 
operating systems.

The crucial point would be that a competent group of individuals (of which 
there seem to be many on this list), retains tight control of interface 
specification.

Christian