Title: Introducing Geometric Algebra to Geometric Computing Software Developers: A Computational Thinking Approach,
Abstract: Designing software systems for Geometric Computing applications can be a
challenging task. Software engineers typically use software abstractions to
hide and manage the high complexity of such systems. Without the presence of a
unifying algebraic system to describe geometric models, the use of software
abstractions alone can result in many design and maintenance problems.
Geometric Algebra (GA) can be a universal abstract algebraic language for
software engineering geometric computing applications. Few sources, however,
provide enough information about GA-based software implementations targeting
the software engineering community. In particular, successfully introducing GA
to software engineers requires quite different approaches from introducing GA
to mathematicians or physicists. This article provides a high-level
introduction to the abstract concepts and algebraic representations behind the
elegant GA mathematical structure. The article focuses on the conceptual and
representational abstraction levels behind GA mathematics with sufficient
references for more details. In addition, the article strongly recommends
applying the methods of Computational Thinking in both introducing GA to
software engineers, and in using GA as a mathematical language for developing
Geometric Computing software systems.