Interface Backend

All Known Subinterfaces:
AudioBackend, ComputeBackend, CPUBackend, DistributedBackend, GPUBackend, GraphBackend, LinearAlgebraBackend<E>, MapBackend, MechanicsBackend, MolecularBackend, PlottingBackend, QuantumBackend, SIMDBackend, TensorBackend, VideoBackend, VisionBackend
All Known Implementing Classes:
AbstractNativeCPULinearAlgebraBackend, AbstractNativeFFMBLASBackend, AbstractNativeSIMDLinearAlgebraBackend, AmazonBraketBackend, CARMALinearAlgebraProvider, ColtBackend, CommonsMathBackend, CPUDenseLinearAlgebraProvider, CPUDenseTensorBackend, CPUJzy3dPlot3DBackend, CPUSparseLinearAlgebraProvider, CPUSparseTensorBackend, DefaultCPUBackend, DistributedLinearAlgebraProvider, EJMLBackend, EpistemeLinearAlgebraBackend, GenesisBackend, GeoToolsBackend, GoogleGeoChartBackend, GraphStreamBackend, GRPCLinearAlgebraBackend, HDF5IOBackend, IBMQBackend, JavaAWTVisionBackend, JavaCVMediaBackend, JavaFXGraphBackend, JavaFXMapBackend, JavaFXMolecularBackend, JavaFXPlot2DBackend, JavaFXPlot3DBackend, JavaSoundAudioBackend, JBlasBackend, JFreeChartPlot2DBackend, JGraphTBackend, JmolMolecularBackend, MinimAudioBackend, MPIDistributedBackend, MulticoreAudioBackend, MulticoreVideoBackend, MulticoreVisionBackend, NativeArrowBackend, NativeBulletBackend, NativeCollisionBackend, NativeCPUCBindingVisionBackend, NativeCPULinearAlgebraComplexBackend, NativeCPULinearAlgebraRealBackend, NativeCPUTensorBackend, NativeCPUVisionBackend, NativeCUDADenseLinearAlgebraDoubleBackend, NativeCUDADenseLinearAlgebraFloatBackend, NativeCUDANBodyBackend, NativeCUDASparseLinearAlgebraDoubleBackend, NativeCUDASparseLinearAlgebraFloatBackend, NativeCUDATensorBackend, NativeCUDAVisionBackend, NativeFFMBLASComplexBackend, NativeFFMBLASRealBackend, NativeFFTBackend, NativeJavaCVMediaBackend, NativeJBulletBackend, NativeJzy3dPlot3DBackend, NativeMiniAudioBackend, NativeMPFRDenseLinearAlgebraBackend, NativeMPFRSparseLinearAlgebraBackend, NativeND4JCUDASparseTensorBackend, NativeND4JCUDATensorBackend, NativeND4JLinearAlgebraBackend, NativeND4JTensorBackend, NativeOpenCLDenseLinearAlgebraDoubleBackend, NativeOpenCLDenseLinearAlgebraFloatBackend, NativeOpenCLFFTBackend, NativeOpenCLLatticeBoltzmannBackend, NativeOpenCLNBodyBackend, NativeOpenCLSparseLinearAlgebraDoubleBackend, NativeOpenCLSparseLinearAlgebraFloatBackend, NativeOpenCLVisionBackend, NativeQuantumBackend, NativeSIMDComplexBackend, NativeSIMDRealBackend, NativeSimulationBackend, NativeVideoBackend, ND4JBaseTensorBackend, ODEBackend, ONNXBackend, ONNXRuntimeBackend, OpenMapBackend, PyMOLMolecularBackend, PythonQuantumBackend, QiskitAerBackend, QiskitBackend, Quantum4JBackend, SparkDistributedBackend, StandardLinearAlgebraProvider, StrangeBackend, StrassenLinearAlgebraProvider, TarsosAudioBackend, UnfoldingMapBackend, VLCJMediaBackend, VMDMolecularBackend, XChartPlot2DBackend
public interface Backend
Base interface for discoverable backend providers. Used by ServiceLoader to dynamically discover available backends (plotting, molecular visualization, computation, etc.).
Since:
1.0
Author:
Silvere Martin-Michiellot, Gemini AI (Google DeepMind)

  • Method Summary

    Modifier and Type
    Method
    Description
    Object
    createBackend()
    Creates and returns the backend instance (or returns self if it is the backend).
    default List<AlgorithmProvider>
    getAlgorithmProviders()
    Returns the AlgorithmProviders exposed by this backend.
    String
    getDescription()
    Returns a description of the backend.
    String
    getId()
    Returns the unique identifier for this backend (e.g., "javafx", "jmol", "cuda").
    String
    getName()
    Returns the display name for UI presentation.
    default int
    getPriority()
    Returns the priority for auto-selection (higher = preferred).
    default String
    getStatusMessage()
    Returns a human-readable status message for this backend.
    String
    getType()
    Returns the backend type category (e.g., "plotting", "molecular", "tensor", "math").
    default boolean
    isAvailable()
    Checks if this backend is currently available (libraries loaded, etc.).
    default boolean
    isExplicitlyDisabled()
    Checks if this backend is specifically disabled via a system property: "episteme.backend.disable." + getId().
    default void
    shutdown()
    Called when the application is shutting down or the backend is being replaced.

  • Method Details

    • getType

      String getType()
      Returns the backend type category (e.g., "plotting", "molecular", "tensor", "math").

    • getId

      String getId()
      Returns the unique identifier for this backend (e.g., "javafx", "jmol", "cuda").

    • getName

      String getName()
      Returns the display name for UI presentation.

    • getDescription

      String getDescription()
      Returns a description of the backend.

    • isAvailable

      default boolean isAvailable()
      Checks if this backend is currently available (libraries loaded, etc.).

      Default implementation checks isExplicitlyDisabled() and returns false if it is.

    • isExplicitlyDisabled

      default boolean isExplicitlyDisabled()
      Checks if this backend is specifically disabled via a system property: "episteme.backend.disable." + getId().

      It also checks specialized properties like "episteme.linearalgebra.disable." + getId().

      Returns:
      true if explicitly disabled

    • getPriority

      default int getPriority()
      Returns the priority for auto-selection (higher = preferred). Used when multiple backends are available.

    • createBackend

      Object createBackend()
      Creates and returns the backend instance (or returns self if it is the backend).
      Returns:
      The backend implementation object

    • getAlgorithmProviders

      default List<AlgorithmProvider> getAlgorithmProviders()
      Returns the AlgorithmProviders exposed by this backend.

      This bridges the Backend discovery system (ServiceLoader<Backend>) with the Algorithm discovery system (ServiceLoader<AlgorithmProvider>), allowing AlgorithmManager to find providers registered through either path.

      Default implementation checks if createBackend() returns an AlgorithmProvider instance.

      Returns:
      list of algorithm providers (may be empty, never null)

    • getStatusMessage

      default String getStatusMessage()
      Returns a human-readable status message for this backend. Useful for debugging "Unavailable" states.
      Returns:
      status message (e.g., "Ready", "Native library missing", etc.)

    • shutdown

      default void shutdown()
      Called when the application is shutting down or the backend is being replaced. Use this to release hardware resources, close file handles, or stop background threads.