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The Bioinformatics Template Library--generic components for biocomputing.

W R Pitt·M A Williams·M Steven·B Sweeney·A J Bleasby·D S Moss
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Abstract

MOTIVATION: The efficiency of bioinformatics programmers can be greatly increased through the provision of ready-made software components that can be rapidly combined, with additional bespoke components where necessary, to create finished programs. The new standard for C++ includes an efficient and easy to use library of generic algorithms and data-structures, designed to facilitate low-level component programming. The extension of this library to include functionality that is specifically useful in compute-intensive tasks in bioinformatics and molecular modelling could provide an effective standard for the design of reusable software components within the biocomputing community. RESULTS: A novel application of generic programming techniques in the form of a library of C++ components called the Bioinformatics Template Library (BTL) is presented. This library will facilitate the rapid development of efficient programs by providing efficient code for many algorithms and data-structures that are commonly used in biocomputing, in a generic form that allows them to be flexibly combined with application specific object-oriented class libraries. AVAILABILITY: The BTL is available free of charge from our web site http://www.cryst.bbk.ac.uk/~classlib/ and the EMBL file server http://www.embl-ebi.ac.uk/FTP/index.html

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W R Pitt, M A Williams, M Steven, B Sweeney, A J Bleasby, D S Moss. 2001. The Bioinformatics Template Library--generic components for biocomputing.. https://doi.org/10.1093/bioinformatics%2F17.8.729

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