Draft agenda for interface tech leads roadmap meeting June 29-30 2019

What can we add to the Stan model concept to help interface implementation?

  • Prelim proposal for model base class
  • expose more metadata about a model, like parameter constrained and unconstrained types and dimensionality
  • subsets of parameters, keeping track of running means and running variances

Additional Stan services:

  • ESS
  • ???

Unifying the interface API across packages (“Stan 3”)

  • unifying names of parameters
  • how are samples returned? (permuted? how? alignment across e.g. sampler params and samples)
  • streaming output and analysis
  • which doc can we share and how?
  • model.sample vs sample(model)
  • How to release? timing vs. Stan 3 language?

Interface package architecture

  • arviz, HTTPStan, bayesplot. Best division of packages?

Lightweight cmdstan-based interfaces

  • identify minimal set of features that need to be supported by an interface. Gives a target to new interfaces

stanc3

  • beta launch imminent
  • long term plans

Stan language features

  • general algorithm for community approval of feature or keyword selection
  • ragged containers
  • sparse matrices
  • tuples / unions / structs / ?
  • model composition (structs? submodels?)
  • lambdas / closures / HOFs
  • user-defined derivatives

Compare solutions for addressing compile times w.r.t. interfaces

  • base model class
  • interpreter?

Define goalposts for algorithm inclusion

  • level 1: stat_comp_benchmarks
  • level 2: ???
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Because it’s a TWG meeting.