Peano 4

• Installation
• Version control
• Documentation
• Architecture
• Continuous Integration
• Vendor software stacks and system- and compiler-specific settings
• Coding conventions and IDEs
• DaStGen
• Optional third-party tools and libraries
• FAQs and troubleshooting (user perspective)

This is the documentation of Peano which is generated automatically through Doxygen. Peano comprises the core Peano 4 modules, the Python API, and a set of Peano extensions as well as benchmarks. The most important extensions at the moment are ExaHyPE 2, our PETSc toolkit and a prototype version of Swift 2.

Peano is an open source framework for solvers on dynamically adaptive Cartesian meshes. Its core is built with C++, but many tools around it are written in Python. Peano is based upon the fact that spacetrees, a generalisation of the classical octree concept, yield a cascade of adaptive Cartesian grids. Consequently, any spacetree traversal is equivalent to an element-wise traversal of the hierarchy of the adaptive Cartesian grids. The software Peano realises such a grid traversal and storage algorithm, and it provides hook-in points for applications performing per-element, per-vertex, and so forth operations on the grid. It also provides interfaces for dynamic load balancing, sophisticated geometry representations, and other features.

Peano is currently available in its fourth generation. The development of the original set of Peano codes started around 2002. 2005-2009, we merged these codes into one Peano kernel (2nd generation). In 2009, I started a complete reimplementation of the kernel with special emphasis on reusability, application-independent design and the support for rapid prototyping. This third generation of the code ended around 2019 when we released the ExaHyPE code - a hyperbolic equation system solver engine which uses Peano's AMR meshes. The documentation discusses Peano 4, which reuses ideas and lessons learned from Peano 3 as well as lots of code buildling blocks, but can be seen as a major rewrite starting from scratch.

Peano has been the code base for multiple projects over the past years. The most prominent one is likely ExaHyPE. The first generation of ExaHyPE has been a stand-alone projects using Peano as one required library or framework out of many. The second generation, ExaHyPE, is merged into Peano as spin-off. This document therefore covers ExaHyPE, too.

Getting started

• Read through the installation instructions and build Peano's core libraries.
• Skim through the high-level architecture
• Pick your project of interest and run through the tutorials and documentation there.
• Consult the coding conventions and the info on Peano's documentation before you continue.