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Hindawi Programming System |
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Sections |
Frequently Asked Questions
on Hindawi What
is Hindawi Programming System? Which
languages does it support? How
critical is the need that this project fulfils? What is
the need of the targeted customer that this project addresses? How
original/innovative is the project (is it a rehash of another or is it
something unique)? What
is Romenagri Transliteration System? Which
Operating systems does it support? How
to install and run Hindawi@DOS? Can
Hindawi be run on FreeDOS alone without using any proprietary / commercial
software? What is
Hindawi Programming System? The word Hindawi is of Arabic origin, and means
"from or belonging to The term Hindawi is often used to denote Hindawi
Programming System along with its related projects - Romenagri, CISR,
Swaadheen DOS and FreeBot Angel. Hindawi is also used as a generic term for
other Indic compiler systems derived from it such as BangaBhasha (compiler
system for Bangla programming languages). Hindawi is the first such "successful"
effort and has provided a proof of concept of the feasibility and validity of
such systems. The programming languages landscape of the future will be free
of human language based biases. Hindawi has also proven the possible
co-existence of traditional and non-orthodox programming platforms on the
same system. The project’s software development is hosted at http://sf.net/projects/hindawi A non-English medium literate person, that is anyone who has been
educated in one’s mother tongue, is the intended audience. This accounts for
95% of Hindawi offers a means of
sociological movements in terms of unleashing untapped intellectual
potentials from the backward areas of developing nations. A rough estimate of
600,000 villages in Hindawi is an effort towards cultural preservation. With the porting of
Hindawi to about-to-be-extinct languages such as Sharada a sense of self
revival may be motivated in the original speakers of these languages Which
languages does it support? Hindi, Bangla, Gujrati. Technically it supports the International
Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) and hence all human
languages. Does
Hindawi have any proprietary software competitors or open source
counterparts? Hindawi has no competitors, proprietary or open source, and it is the
only tool for systems level programming languages in non-English languages.
These tools could have been patented, but that would have defeated the
original target. The other non-English programming languages being developed in Hindawi aims at *localising*
programming languages and not just at providing Indic support for I/O alone.
If the concern was to provide a method by which Indic scripts could be read
(input) or written (output), then the UNICODE support, possibly using wchar_t
data type and related functions could suffice. The goal or target is to
create *compilers* for *programming languages* in Indic languages. How critical is
the need that this project fulfils? Let us think of our brothers
and sisters who have not been privileged enough to go to English medium
schools. Even they have a right to benefit from the ICT revolution. Software
is certainly being written for them, but we could liken that to a Mercedes
car without a steering wheel. What it means is that the non-English software
available today is of wonderful quality, like a Mercedes in the world of
automobiles, but it only allows a user to perform a predetermined function,
hence no steering wheel. Say the user wants to do something of his own
desire, how does he do it? Is a consumer the only access we want to provide
our mother-tongue literate brothers and sisters with? The answer lies in providing
them with programming languages in their mother tongue. One in which even the
highest levels of technical programs may be written, besides of course the
simple ones. Hindawi is just that. It offers mother tongue BASIC for the
children and beginners, and mother tongue C, C++, assembly, lex, yacc, Java
etc. for the advanced and professionally inclined. The day one starts
learning programming, he/she will start off with a topic in data structures,
or algorithms etc., instead of a dictionary! Hindawi is such a solution, such
an empowering tool. With this they can do any kind of programming, including
even robotics and super computing. This software does not require any special
hardware, and can also run on an old Pentium I or PII. It is an accepted psychological fact that creativity is best expressed in
the language that one learns first, and exceptions to this rule are
rare. Today if a person who is educated in his/her mother tongue (which is not
English) wants to learn computer programming, one has to first *struggle* to
pick up the chords of English and then try to acquire programming skills. On
the other hand if one joins IT without learning English, he/she is restricted
to only some document creation software or applications. The Indic
applications being produced today are very good indeed (as good as a BMW or
Mercedes; but without a steering wheel!) but they will only take you along a
fixed road. Hindawi has the capability to
enhance the Joy of programming to Indic programmers. Using their own language
in their own script to write full fledged programs is no longer an impossible
task for Indic Programmers! What is the
need of the targeted customer that this project addresses? There is no other comparable piece of software
that supports systems level programming in Indian languages. The need for a
non-English mother tongue based programming system is a generally accepted
fact, however many, including the esteemed Indian Institute of Technology -
Madras, had discounted the technical feasibility - something that Hindawi has
made possible. Hindawi Programming System has shattered the technological
myth that full fledged systems programming systems cannot be feasibly
developed in non English languages. This is evident from the flurry of
activity seen towards reproducing our results globally, and especially the
interest of commercial entities in doing so. Yes, localizations are going
great way these days, and, as an end user one can find computer interfaces in
his or her own Indic languages, and even IDEs
(Integrated Development Environments) to create localized applications in
some cases. But when you talk about
system/bios level console programming, prior to Hindawi, there was none
available for Indic languages, and was thought to be impossible because none
of the text console in either Linux or Windows[tm] fully support Indic
language till today. This project essentially is relevant to How
original/innovative is the project (is it a rehash of another or is it
something unique)? These Indic programming languages that the
Hindawi has developed are a *new entity* altogether. They are not merely
libraries or functions providing I/O support for Indic scripts. They are
called Hindi C or Hindi assembly or Bangla C or Bangla assembly etc. only for
the sake of common understanding. They even have different names; such as,
the equivalent programming language of C in Indian languages is Shaili Guru,
Indic C++ is Shaili Shraeni, Indic yacc is Shaili Vyaakaran and so on.
However, these languages are syntax-compatible with their traditional English
counterparts and can, therefore, utilise the existing libraries such as glibc
etc. In a manner similar to the way C++ is syntax compatible to C and hence
can use most of the C libraries. Hindawi is the first ever suite of complete
systems programming languages in Indian languages. This has often been cited
as an infeasible goal and was an immense technical challenge. This is
attested by the fact that we have received many technical innovation awards
and media coverage. What is
Romenagri Transliteration System? Romenagri is a GPL'd non-ambiguous invertible case and
diacritic independent compiler acceptable transliteration system with the associated
algorithms implemented using GCC for high portability. It may be used for
developing Indic compilers, besides regular transliteration work. It is
applicable to all languages using the Brahmi derived composite syllabic
scripts; viz. Assomiya, Bangla, Devnagri, Gujrati,
Oriya and Punjabi. Romenagri utilizes syllabic complements in Roman script
for the symbols of the North Indian scripts. The process of converting
Romenagri back to the Indian script representation is more complex and is
achieved by using a recursive descent parser. ka + ^ra + ^i + ya
+ ^aa = kriyaa CISR (Code for Indian Script Representation) is
a GPL'd set of representational semantics and associated algorithms
implemented using GCC for compositional syllabic Indian scripts along with
the corresponding set of graphemes for use with fixed width console
(text-mode) applications. This is the 'only' FOSS / GPL'd software that
provides this functionality, all other alternatives, such as CDAC's GIST, are commercial. The CISR uses a 9-grid
format to extract the common features of the Brahmi derived Indian scripts.
Each feature forms a specific grapheme. The 9-grid consists of three rows,
viz. Urdha, Madhya and Nimna, and three columns, viz. Matrik, Lipik and
Purak. The Indian script symbols are mapped to their constituent graphemes in
one table, with the graphemes being mapped to the corresponding glyphs
(character-codes) in another table. Hence, the process of conversion of codes
such as ISCII to CISR is a two-step procedure. The first step (synthesis)
consists of combining the grapheme maps of the different Indian symbols,
which is algorithmically intensive, while the second step is a straight
forward O (n) lookup procedure for obtaining the character values of the
corresponding graphemes. Swaadheen DOS is a free Indian languages' GPL'd
DOS, currently based on the FreeDOS kernel. There is a lot of effort underway
which aims at localizing other OS's but DOS seems to have been neglected.
However, the fact that DOS can run on minimally configured systems makes it a
feasible alternative for Indic computing. There has only been one localized
version of DOS by IBM. However, it was a commercial product which utilised
CDAC GIST for Indian script (Hindi only) display. GIST is also a commercial
product and hence adds to the cost of procurement. FreeBot ANGEL (Autonomous Natural interfaced
General purpose Events driven Learner) is an open source robotic platform
with GPL'd software / firmware and public domain electronic / mechanical
design. It is intended to be similar to robotics kits like Lego Mindstorms.
Its control software is designed as per the NI2A2 (Natural Interfaced
Intelligent Adaptive Agents) theory, a derivative of subsumption
architecture. The electro-mechanical design tries to closely mimic vertebrate
nervous system. What are technical
innovations in Hindawi? Some technical details of Hindawi are as follows: 1. Most compiler systems accept only 7-bit ASCII.
Hindawi, through Romenagri Transliteration, allows Hindi / Indic programming
language source code to be processed by such compilers. There are very few
compilers even today that support direct compilation of extended character
sets or wide characters as required by Unicode. Hindawi, therefore, allows
non-English programming languages to be constructed for all existing
computing platforms, including resource constrained embedded systems. 2. Romenagri transliteration allows Indic script to be
represented in Roman script without the need for any diacritics or
case-dependence. Most high level compilers are case sensitive for Roman
script and cannot process diacritics since these cannot be represented in
7-bit ASCII. Hence other transliteration methods could not have been used for
the purpose of creating generic and highly portable non-English compilers. 3. Hindawi allows the translation of source code and
documentation into English and hence allows global marketability of
deliverables (executable programs) produced using Hindawi tool-chain. 4. Hindawi includes CISR, which is a mechanism for
displaying variable width Indic scripts of the Brahmi family on fixed width
text mode consoles. If you look at today's Indic platforms they can display
Indic once the graphics mode has been started, say X-windows etc. However,
true localisation requires Indic display at all levels of functionality such
as at the BIOS levels. Especially, for stuff such as device drivers and
systems programs it is irrelevant whether the code was written in Indic or
traditional programming languages. In such cases it becomes imperative to
have human language independence. CISR is also applicable for Indic interface
LCDs in embedded systems, since it does not require
special rasterisation hardware and performs Indic
rendering in O(n) or real-time. Does Hindawi
bridge some gaps in the "digital divide" to create others? Hindawi (Hindi/Bangla C, C++ etc.) does 'not'
create any further divide or gap between Indic developers and traditional
(English) developers. Hindi / Bangla C, C++, Java, assembly etc. get
'readily' translated into their English equivalent. There is also provision
for translation of variable names, which certainly is not a trivial task. The
reverse, that is, translation of English programming languages and variable
names to Indic programming languages and variable names also takes place
'readily'; (here readily implies without any extra programming effort). So
there isn't any new gap that develops between traditional and Indic developers;
only the old ones are bridged. How can one support Hindawi and related
projects? The authors are looking for support in terms of
financial grants, besides developers who would like to join into the effort.
A lot of support is required in terms of awareness generation. The authors
would appreciate any form of financial support such as financial grant,
fellowship, sponsorship, advertisements, co-branding offers, CD distribution
offers, book publication offers etc. Help us reach it to the people who need it. You
need not pay us anything for this, yes it is truly free. If you know a Indic medium school, which you certainly do, tell them
about it. If you have an old machine donate it to some school, college or
social group where it can be used to teach Indic programming languages. Do a wget to download
it from the project site: $ wget http://hindawi.in/hindawilinux.tgz Which Operating
systems does it support? Hindawi IDE has been developed for Linux, DOS and
Windows[tm]. The compilers can be compiled for and used on all systems to
which GNU GCC has been ported such as BSD, Solaris etc. Hindawi can also be
compiled on most other computing platforms. Basic System
and memory requirements The
system requirements depend on the configuration of the platform on which
Hindawi is deployed. In other words, if you are able to run another compiler
and IDE on your system, then you should be able to run Hindawi. There
may be platform specific dependencies for Hindawi. How to
install and run Hindawi@DOS? (Note: If you are
using the version of Hindawi@DOS packaged for DOSBox for Microsoft
Windows[tm] please simply run setup.exe for installation. Hindawi@Linux setup
instructions are completely different and available with the Hindawi@Linux
distribution. You are, however, encouraged to try out Hindawi@DOS
using DOSBox under Linux and other OS. An online version of Hindawi is also
available if you do not want to install anything - visit
http://hindawi.in/online/) Hindawi installation is very simple
indeed, provided you have a standard PC or compatible
with a respectable amount of RAM and hard-drive space. You MUST follow these
steps EXACTLY unless of course you know better. (In that case do drop in a
letter or mail with a few suggestions!) i) Get to a
TEXT-MODE DOS-PROMPT -How to do this depends on your OS -If you are using plain DOS (I feel
nostalgic), you ARE in TEXT-MODE! -Windows users (Win9x(TM), Win2K(TM), WinXP(TM), etc.) go to command prompt -DOSBox / DOSEmu:
Install as under plain DOS ii) Now from the
directory where you have place the Hindawi installation files type SETUP.(You must at least have
setup.exe and hindawi3.zip) -Press any key on the opening screen to
move on to the next screen -Here you have to enter the name of the
directory where you wish to install the files for
Hindawi. Simply pressing Enter will install in the default location; i.e. C:\hindawi\ -Next Enter the location for DJGPPv2. If
you already have DJGPPv2 you may enter NO for the location which will
prevent the installation of DJGPPv2 (However, note that Hindawi requires a
GNU-GCC backend for supporting Hindi versions of C, C++, lex and yacc.
You may use some other distribution of GCC such as MinGW,
CygWin etc. but then you'll also need to download
and install Allegro
graphics library.) -You need a Java(TM) compiler if you plan
to compile Shaili Kritrim programs. -If everything has gone right, you are
ready to experience the revolution in mother tongue computing **NOTE: If
setup.exe fails then manually unzip the hindawi and
djgpp files to a directory of
your choice, and set up these THREE environment variables: HINHOME=directory
of Hindawi HOME=directory of
DJGPP DJGPP=%HOME%\DJGPP.ENV How to
install and run Hindawi@Linux?
$ wget
http://hindawi.in/hindawilinux.tgz
$ tar -xvzf hindawilinux.tgz
$ su or $ sudo su
# cd Hindawi@Linux
# ./preinstall_fedora.sh
# ./install
How to uninstall Hindawi@Linux? While it may be interesting to have Hindawi installed
on your system, if only to show off to your friends, we do understand that
there may be valid reasons for uninstalling it. To uninstall Hindawi execute
the uninstall script from the Hindawi@Linux directory as a super-user. # ./uninstall How to
use the Hindawi IDE? Hindawi port to
GNU/Linux comes with a small but handy IDE - Laghu. It is not as elaborate as
the Lekhak IDE for Hindawi@DOS, but provides the necessary IDE
functionalities. Figure 1 shows the main elements on this form based IDE. 1.
Program editor: You can edit your Indic source files in this text box.
The final sources may be saved, and programs saved earlier may be loaded. It
supports standard editing keys. Writing programs - A program
written in Hindawi implies a program written in any Shaili. These use a
common filename extension of ".hin"
(without the quotes). There are two methods for compiling a source code in
any Shaili - first, the Shaili-specific compiler may be used, and second, a
call can be made to "hind", the common compiler-driver for Hindawi.
When compiled with a call to hind, the first line of the source code must
specify the Shaili in the form <shailee guru>
for Shaili Guru, <shailee yaan_trika>
for Shaili Yantrik and so on. (Note: "shailee"
and "yaan_trika" are the Romenagri
appropriate transliterations.) 2.
Filename: The filename with path prefix that will be used to save and
restore is entered into this text box. 3.
File combo: This allows you to graphically select the filename and path
prefix. Selecting a filename using the file combo neither loads nor saves the
filename selected. You will have to click on the desired button to save or
load after selecting the filename. 4.
Compile: Compiles the active program. 5.
Test: Test runs the last compilation result in the IDE. The inputs are recieved from the input box and the outputs are sent to
the output box. 6.
Launch: Launches the last compilation result in an external console. 7.
Compiler results: The compiler messages appear here. 8.
Output: Text box for listing the output from programs tested in the IDE. 9.
Input: Text box for listing the inputs required by programs tested in the
IDE. 10. Help: Invokes the online help system. This
currently only displays the manual. 11. Exit: Closes the IDE. 12. New: Clears the contents and states of all IDE
components, so that a new program may be entered from scratch. 13. Save: Saves the program currently being edited
to a file named in the filename box. 14. Open: Opens a previously saved file for editing.
Can
Hindawi be run on FreeDOS alone without using any proprietary / commercial
software? Certainly Hindawi runs on 'vanilla' FreeDOS, and
runs under Windows only under DOS mode or in a text-mode DOS box. Hindawi is
intended to use Linux and FreeDOS as its primary basis. The floppy distribution
of Swaadheen DOS, which is a bootable floppy (FreeDOS based) and has Hindawi
shell (aadesh) as a replacement for command.com, resulting in an Indic DOS. Hindawi runs on 'stock' versions of FreeDOS and
does not require any proprietary components. This is perhaps the 'only' Indic
software which does so; leave alone any Indic programming language. (There
are no other 'successful' implementations Indic programming languages which
support 'true' programming in every paradigm besides Hindawi, as yet!) What is
meant by Hindawi is complete? Hindawi is "complete" because even lex
and yacc have been "implemented" or "originally
localized" to Indic languages. So we can now have any programming
language written in Indian languages (Hindi, Bangla, Gujrati, Tamil, Kannada,
etc.) This method can also be extended to every other human language. What
support for Indic languages has been provided by Hindawi which did not exist
in GCC? These are *new* programming languages, so how
are they intended to be compiled with a classical GCC package, and if they
could be then what was the need for project Hindawi! Hindawi is a *suite* of
*programming languages* (new ones!), i.e. a compiler collection just as gcc
is, for programming languages which use Indian languages as a basis, instead
of being based on English. Currently we are using gcc (and yes, *classical*
gcc) as the back-end compiler, but any other back end could be used, that is
to say that Hindawi and all its sub-projects (shaili guru etc.) could use any
other compiler system instead of gcc as a backend. Hindawi is based on the
*completely new* and independently developed technologies of Romenagri and CISR,
which we could have patented, but decided to make them FreeSoftware.
Hindawi is quite like P2C, the pascal to C
converter, for now. Remember how C++ was intially
made available as the CFront compiler. Key-board
input, console output, and everything else is supported, but more than that
the ability to compile source code with keywords and variable names in Indic
scripts while maintaining compatibility with existing libraries is its
uniqueness. Demonstration programs in
Hindawi Hello World (or Namaste Duniya / Namaskar Jagat) Note: All trademarks and copyrights acknowledged
as belonging to their respective owners. |
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(C)Copyright Dr. Sweta Choudhary 2008 | Legal notices
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