TimelyDataflow / TimelyDataflow/differential-dataflow

Description bounds could have type `Antichain`.

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Rust
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Description

In several places we use Vec<T> and &[T] to indicate frontiers, with the implied contract that they should be antichains. We could actually use antichains through timely dataflow's Antichain<T> type.

Perhaps with some additional wrapping (e.g. Frontier<T>) we (or timely) could partially order these antichains too, using the rule that one comes before another if each element of the other comes after some element of the former.

fn le(a1: &Frontier<T>, a2: &Frontier<T>) -> bool {
    a2.elements().iter().all(|t2| a1.elements().iter().any(|t1| t1.le(t2)))
}

This would clean up a bit of code (not lots) and make parts less error-prone / higher confidence.

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Research direction

The issue names no files or tests. Start by locating uses of Vec and &[T] that represent frontiers, then compare those contracts with timely dataflow's Antichain. Determine whether a Frontier wrapper and the proposed partial ordering are appropriate, and verify that the affected code becomes less error-prone.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
rust
Domain
distributed-systems
Issue type
Refactor
Difficulty
5/5
Estimated time
Over a week
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
35/100

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