Sites suggested by readers

Citation

Sienz, J. (1999), "Sites suggested by readers", Engineering Computations, Vol. 16 No. 2. https://doi.org/10.1108/ec.1999.18216bab.001

Sites suggested by readers

Sites suggested by readers

Keywords Internet, Java, List servers, Programming

Welcome to Internews of Engineering Computations. This issue looks at two Web sites suggested by readers. The first is a list server dealing with mesh generation by S. Owen from Ansys, and the second is a Finite Element Bibliography site maintained by J. Mackerle of the Linköping Institute of Technology in Sweden.

Webwatch takes another look at the Java programming language and its suitability for the application to solve scientific "grand" challenges. A few scientists have formed the Java Grande Forum (JGF) to establish Java as a scientific programming language.

Site #1: Mesh Listserv

http://www.andrew.cmu.edu/user/sowen/meshlist.html suggested by S. Owen (Steve.Owen@ansys.com) is the home page for the Mesh Generation Listserv. The home page is kept short with just a few, important links. This makes navigation easy. The home page allows visitors to browse the archives of the list server (http://www.onelist.com/archives.cgi/mesh) or to join the list server (http://www.onelist.com/subscribe.cgi/mesh) . Messages can be sent to the list server using mesh@onelist.com as e-mail address.

The archive shows the current communications and the archived list of communications. Additionally, the archive can be searched. When subscribing to the mailing list, the visitor will automatically be mailed the list messages. This option has the advantage of being automatically updated about the latest developments and discussions in the field of mesh generation. The "price" can be an overflowing e-mail box when subscribing to many automatic list services.

The Mesh Listserv home page contains a link to the Meshing Research Corner (http://www.andrew.cmu.edu/user/sowen/mesh.html) . This site is arguably the most comprehensive site dealing with mesh generation. It contains links under the following headings:

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  keyword index;

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  what's new;

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  recent publications;

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  conferences and symposia;

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  selected topics;

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  selected authors;

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  tips on tracking down journal articles;

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  jobs; and

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  other mesh generation resources.

The list of headings gives an indication of the amount of information, which this site contains or to which it points. As is the case with any site having this amount of information, the visitor can easily suffer from information overload. However, when looking for a specific topic, such as Tetrahedral/Triangle Methods ­ Advancing Front, it is simple to find the relevant information quickly.

Site #2: Finite Element Books

http://www.solid.ikp.liu.se/fe suggested by J. Mackerle (jarma@ikp.liu.se) is a retrieval site containing information about Finite Element Books. The home page is well organised with some introductory comments followed by a table containing four links allowing searching the database and one link to publishers. The search options are: Author, Book title, Subject and New books (last three years). The publishers can be accessed following Links to publishers. The page is frequently updated.

Mackerle offers a free information retrieval service from the database to PhD students world-wide. This is very useful.

When following the search link Authors a long alphabetical list of authors of books and conference proceedings is displayed. This can be browsed to find the author required or the visitor can use the search facilities built into the browser to locate certain authors. In the Netscape browser this function is under Edit -> Find in Page ... . In Hotjava the search is implemented in a similar fashion: Edit -> Find in Document ... . In Internet Explorer the user has to go to View -> Source. This will open Notepad and it is possible to use the Search facility there. The Search Icon implemented by all browsers cannot be used to search the HTML content of the current page displayed in the browser window.

Similar lists are displayed when following the search links Book title and New books (last three years) on the home page of the Finite Element Books site. The Subject link leads the visitor to a table which is divided into various categories such as Textbooks, Advances in finite elements, Special interest books and Programming and books on FE software. These categories are further subdivided allowing the visitor to quickly find books relevant to a specific topic, such as Contact mechanics or Finite element software.

The last link on the home page is Links to publishers. It takes the visitor to a comprehensive alphabetical list of publishers world-wide, ranging from Academic Press (http://www.apnet.com/) and Addison-Wesley (http://www.aw.com) over NAFEMS (http://www.nafems.org) and Saxe-Coburg Publ. (http://www.saxe-coburg.co.uk) to J. Wiley & Sons (http://www.wiley.com) and World Scientific Publ. (http://sunflower.signet.com.sg/~wspclib/). As is the case with many Web pages some of these links may be out of date.

Overall, the Finite Element Books repository page is very informative and easy to navigate. It can be recommended to anybody looking for information about the finite element method.

Webwatch

Most scientists do not believe in the future of Java (http://java.sun.com) as a scientific programming language. However, a few programmers united with the objective to establishing Java as a scientific programming language. Their efforts are documented on their Java Grande Forum home page at http://www.javagrande.org

The Javagrande founders belief that "... Java has potential to be a better environment for Grande application development than any previous languages such as Fortran and C++. The goal of the Java Grande Forum (JGF) is to develop community consensus and recommendations for either changes to Java or establishment of standards (frameworks) for Grande libraries and services. These language changes or frameworks are designed to realize the best ever Grande programming environment ...". Naturally, this statement is open to debate and will be challenged by Fortran and C++ programmers. Nevertheless, it is important to keep in touch with new programming language developments.

The home page is clearly structured with a list of links leading to About the Forum, Public Information, Meetings, Working Groups, Community Activities, List of Resources, SC98, Reports and People. These links point to the most important Internet sites containing information, such as articles, meeting time tables and software. The site seems to have been established only recently which explains why some pages are not complete. However, it is a good starting point for somebody wanting to get into using Java as a programming language for scientific applications.

The Internet Editor of Engineering Computations

Home Page: http://www.swan.ac.uk/civeng/General/staff/js.html

The Internet Editor of Engineering Computations, Johann Sienz, can be contacted via e-mail: J.Sienz@swansea.ac.uk or fax +44 1792 295676.