Cobra components versus Pyre components

From DANSE

Creating a "Cobra" component is different than creating a Pyre component. Cobra is meant to be a demonstration of how a DANSE client could use distributed computing for doing neutron scattering. Cobra uses XML and Python, and communicates via HTTP. We may eventually replace the aforementioned methods with Pyre, but this will not be until the development of gsl is mature. Cobra remains a seperate entity, with seperate components. However, Cobra can be useful to use as a learning tool to better understand: how components work together to make a analysis circuit, how to program for a visual environment, and how distributed computing works in a general sense. There are many examples of Cobra components found in the repository on arcs.cacr.caltech.edu in the folders under cobra152/Local. Cobra has the ability to automatically generate the necessary XML wrappers for a new Cobra component, and has a limited (somewhat buggy) ability to automatically format a standard python code to be a Cobra component.