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Subject: Re: Chess program functions dll?

Author: Ralf Elvsén

Date: 05:05:04 05/01/01

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On April 29, 2001 at 20:45:33, Andy Serpa wrote:

>Hello,
>
>I'm not a heavy-duty programmer, but I'm proficient in Euphoria and Basic (but
>not C) -- has anybody created a .dll library of functions useful to creating
>chess software?  For instance, inputing a given position and getting back the
>legal moves for that position (or simply checking whether a given move is
>legal), functions for parsing PGN, etc.  Anything like that with functions I can
>call from my Euphoria programs?  Could I create such a .dll someone using
>available source code for chess-playing programs?
>
>I'm basically trying to get out of writing these functions myself...

To use that kind of functions in your own chess program wouldn't be so smart
IMHO. There are different board and move representations and you would have to
convert to your own before using the results. You wouldn't like the overhead if
you cared about speed.

Also, many people do a lot of tricks in their move generating functions so
you must write your own if you want to do your own tricks.

Having said that, well written functions of this kind could be useful for
tasks which aren't time critical. Parsing PGN is a good example. There is
public source code for a lot of engines, but I think it is easier to write
it yourself than stealing, here as well the data layout would be irritating.

In general, to try to get away with writing huge chunks of a chess
program if you want a good one isn't a good idea,
you need to know it in every detail.

Ralf



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