[petsc-dev] [petsc-users] new book introducing PETSc for PDEs

[Junchao Zhang]

Ed,
  I agree with all what you said.  My thought is we don't need to add each
of your examples into corresponding src/XX/tutorials/.  Your repo can be a
standalone directory and we just need PETSc CI to be able to run them.
--Junchao Zhang


On Fri, Oct 30, 2020 at 9:00 PM Ed Bueler <elbueler at alaska.edu> wrote:

> Junchao--
>
> > I was wondering if it is feasible to add your example programs to PETSc
> tests so that readers will always be able to run your code.
>
> Thanks for asking.  There was a deliberate idea here, which I want
> to explain, and the petsc-dev list is the right spot.  (Sorry if this is
> more than you want to know.)
>
> First, the example programs are in a completely public spot:
>     https://github.com/bueler/p4pdes
> No one needs to own the book to run the codes, for example.  I welcome
> corrections/feedback/improvements through the issues interface at that
> repo, whether or not connected they are connected to the book text.
>
> In fact, here are things one may observe about the petsc tutorial
> src/XX/tutorials/exN.c) examples:
>
> 1.  They may or may not point to a clear document(s) which can help a
> beginner know how they are designed.
> 2.  They don't have a uniform style because of different authorship.
> 3.  They are not ordered by difficulty in any clear way.  (E.g. ex1.c may
> not be the best example to start with, and the beginner would not be able
> to grep to find "easy" even if they can find some function from the API
> that way.)
> 4.  Their features evolve over time as developers work with the examples
> as regression/feature tests.  (See src/snes/tutorials/ex5.c.)
>
> Note that all of these facts are exactly what petsc devs would want!  That
> is, the way the set of examples in the petsc tree are structured helps with
> fast development by a diverse dev team.
>
> However the same facts make the examples less friendly to those who don't
> already know petsc.  Thus my opinion about the book's example codes is that
> a single source of stable examples, ordered by difficulty, closely tied to
> beginner documentation, of uniform style, and kinda boring to most petsc
> devs, is something I can supply and maintain.  So I'll be acting as editor
> to preserve the intent and simplicity of the examples.
>
> Does that make sense?
>
> Needless to say, fork my repo all you want!  The MIT license is nice and
> permissive.
>
> Ed
>
>
>
> On Fri, Oct 30, 2020 at 4:50 PM Junchao Zhang <junchao.zhang at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>> Prof. Ed Bueler,
>>    Congratulations on your book. I am eager to read it.
>>    I was wondering if it is feasible to add your example programs to
>> PETSc tests so that readers will always be able to run your code.
>> --Junchao Zhang
>>
>>
>> On Thu, Oct 29, 2020 at 8:29 PM Ed Bueler <elbueler at alaska.edu> wrote:
>>
>>> All --
>>>
>>> SIAM Press just published my new book "PETSc for Partial Differential
>>> Equations: Numerical Solutions in C and Python":
>>>
>>>   https://my.siam.org/Store/Product/viewproduct/?ProductId=32850137
>>>
>>> The book is available both as a paperback and an e-book with working
>>> links.  A SIAM member discount is available, of course.
>>>
>>> This book is a genuine introduction which does not assume you have used
>>> PETSc before, and which should make sense even if your differential
>>> equations knowledge is basic.  The prerequisites are a bit of programming
>>> in C and a bit of numerical linear algebra, roughly like the main ideas of
>>> Trefethen and Bau, but even that is reviewed and summarized.  I've made an
>>> effort to introduce discretizations from the beginning, especially finite
>>> differences and elements.
>>>
>>> The book is based on a collection of example programs at
>>> https://github.com/bueler/p4pdes.  Most of these codes call PETSc
>>> directly through the C API, but the last two chapters have Python codes
>>> using UFL and Firedrake.  Nonetheless the book contains ideas, mathematical
>>> and computational; it complements, but does not replace, the PETSc User's
>>> Manual and the tutorial examples in the PETSc source.  Concepts are
>>> explained and illustrated, with sufficient context to facilitate further
>>> development. Performance (optimality) and parallel scalability are the
>>> primary goals, so preconditioners including multigrid are central threads,
>>> and run-time solver options are explored in both the text and the exercises.
>>>
>>> Here is the place to appreciate the usual PETSc suspects for their
>>> comments on drafts, and help in writing this book: Barry, Jed, Matt, Dave,
>>> Rich, Lois, Patrick, Mark, Satish, David K., and many others.  Also let me
>>> say that SIAM Press has nothing but professionals who are nice to work with
>>> too; send them your book idea!
>>>
>>> Ed
>>>
>>> --
>>> Ed Bueler
>>> Dept of Mathematics and Statistics
>>> University of Alaska Fairbanks
>>> Fairbanks, AK 99775-6660
>>> 306C Chapman
>>>
>>
>
> --
> Ed Bueler
> Dept of Mathematics and Statistics
> University of Alaska Fairbanks
> Fairbanks, AK 99775-6660
> 306C Chapman
>
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