The QPath Blog


QPath® is finally available for developing truly real agnostic quantum systems

Authors

José Luis Hevia
aQuantum Chief Technology Officer (CTO)

Mario Piattini
aQuantum Chief Research Officer (CRO)

Guido Peterssen Nodarse
aQuantum Chief Operating Officer (COO)

The present decade (2020s) is considered to be the “quantum decade”, in which “quantum computing is poised to expand the scope and complexity of the business problems we can solve” [1] offering a true “quantum advantage”. According to the Institute for Business Value we will witness “the most important computing revolution in 60 years” as a result of the integration of classical computing, quantum computing and artificial intelligence.

In fact, completely new solutions are possible in multiple business areas:  economics and financial services, chemistry, medicine and health, supply chain and logistics, energy, and agriculture, etc. [2] [3].

Over the last 10 years, dozens of programming languages have been developed [4] and the main quantum software manufacturers (IBM, Google, Microsoft, D-Wave, Rigetti, etc.) offer full-stack environments comprising libraries, languages, and tools.  Some platforms allow users to design and run quantum applications in an integrated development environment (e.g. Amazon’s Braket) but there are only a few offer a complete ecosystem for quantum software development. In [5] the main quantum software development platforms are analyzed (see table 1).

Source: Quantum Computing. IEEE Software 38 (5): 7-15 (2021). https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9520227 [5]

One of them is QuantumPath® in which we have worked during the last 4 years, following the guidelines of the Talavera Manifesto for Quantum Software Engineering and Programming [6] endorsed by hundreds of quantum researchers and professionals around the world.

During those years of intense R&D work we have carried out extensive research and development in the fields of Quantum Software Engineering and Programming whose most relevant result is QPath, the first platform for quantum applications life cycle management and development for quality quantum software. From the creation of the quantum algorithm through its development, testing and implementation, to its deployment and reuse. An ecosystem of tools to develop quantum software that supports the execution of quantum processing units in a transparent way regardless of the platform where they are executed [7].

QuantumPath® is a platform designed and developed to accelerate the adoption of quantum software in the real world, to contribute from now on to the application of quantum computing beyond laboratories and research at a time characterized by an ethereal quantum technological proposal, in many exclusive cases and/or not connected to each other. 

This way we can get QuantumPath®:

·    To solve most of the quality problems of quantum computing platforms: Lower level of the programming abstractions, platform heterogeneity, remote software development and deployment, limited portability of quantum software, etc. [8]

·  To support a real of agnostic development of quantum algorithms, accelerating quantum software development, as it provides: the architecture of the platform to manage the life cycle of developments, and the characteristics of the visual development of the code, circuits, and flows [9]. Not only for circuit-based quantum software design, but also for quantum annealing offering a very user-friendly interface (QPath®’s Annealer Compositor) [10] that facilitates the definition and execution of annealing algorithms in either quantum annealing or digital annealing computers.

·    To facilitate the integration of hybrid software systems, through its metalanguages, APIs and QPath´s integration point, allowing access to virtually every feature and behavior of the platform to facilitate the dynamic integration of classical applications with quantum ones [11].

·    To accelerate the development of commercial quantum software, automatically choosing the execution quantum target, simplifying the creation of hybrid systems, managing all the processes, and analyzing all the stored telemetry [12].

For all this QuantumPath®, although it seems incredible even to us who have developed it, was born as an agnostic platform regarding the different technologies present in the market to be able to use the best of each one for each project and hybrid to be able to naturally integrate with the classic processes and technologies of the real world.

QuantumPath® includes tools for software quality management, quantum algorithms development management and life cycle, all of which facilitate workforce access to the development of quantum software, directly contributing to quantum software business benefits.

And the best of all, although QuantumPath® has been designed to accompany us also in the future, to our satisfaction it is our offer today to develop high quality quantum software using a fully operational platform that allows us to take full advantage of quantum computing in the state it is in today, tomorrow, …, applying the best principles of Software Engineering and thus contributing to the protection of the investment in this disruptive type of software development.

Since October 18 QuantumPath® [13] can be publicly accessed through four types of subscriptions, including a free one: QPath® Free Developer to learn about QuantumPath® and start designing, developing, testing, and experimenting quantum algorithms and solutions for the annealing and quantum gate approaches. 

We hope with this milestone to have contributed in an important practical way to democratization and quantum alphabetization, laying the groundwork for achieving a new golden age for quantum software engineering [14], and boosting largescale production of high-quality quantum software for the real world. 

Now it’s time to continue working to implement the new QuantumPath® challenges and functionalities that we are working on. We will keep reporting progress.

References:

[1] The Quantum Decade.  A playbook for achieving awareness, readiness, and advantage. IBM Institute for Business Value. https://www.ibm.com/downloads/cas/J25G35OK

[2] Requirements for a Robust Quantum Software Development Environment. Mario Piattini: Cutter Business Technology Journal, Vol. 34, Nº 4, 12-17. https://www.cutter.com/article/requirements-robust-quantum-software-development-environment

[3] Quantum technologies. Digital transformation, social impact, and cross-sector disruption. Interamerican Development Bank. https://publications.iadb.org/publications/english/document/Quantum_Technologies_Digital_Transformation_Social_Impact_and_Crosssector_Disruption.pdf

[4] 250+ Early Quantum Applications. D-Wave. https://www.dwavesys.com/learn/featured-applications/

[5] Quantum Computing. Jose Luis Hevia, Guido Peterssen, Christof Ebert, Mario Piattini. IEEE Softw. 38(5): 7-15 (2021). https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9520227

[6] The Talavera Manifesto for Quantum Software Engineering and Programming. Mario Piattini, Guido Peterssen, Ricardo Pérez-Castillo, José L. Hevia, Manuel A. Serrano, Guillermo Hernández, Ignacio García Rodríguez de Guzmán, Claudo A. Paradela, Macario Polo, Ezequiel Murina, Luis Jiménez, Juan C. Marqueño, Ramsés Gallego, Jordi Tura, Frank Phillipson, Juan M. Murillo, Alfonso Niño, and Moisés Rodríguez. 2020, https://www.aquantum.es/manifesto/

[7] Introduction to quantum software development with QPath. Guido Peterssen, José L. Hevia. The QPath Blog. 2021. https://www.quantumpath.es/2021/01/13/introduction-to-quantum-software-development-with-qpath/

[8] https://www.quantumpath.es/2021/02/11/qpath-solves-most-of-the-quality-problems-of-quantum-computing-platforms/

[9] https://www.quantumpath.es/2021/02/25/advantages-of-agnostic-development-of-quantum-algorithms-and-apps-for-the-real-world-with-qpath/

[10] A New Path to Create Solutions for Quantum Annealing Problems. Jose Luis Hevia, Ezequiel Murina, Guido Peterssen, Mario Piattini. Journal of Quantum Information Science > Vol.11 No.3, September 2021. https://www.scirp.org/journal/paperinformation.aspx?paperid=111942

[11] https://www.quantumpath.es/2020/12/02/qpath_useful_platform/

[12] https://www.quantumpath.es/2020/11/26/qpath_accelerator/

[13] https://www.aquantum.es/aquantum-releases-public-access-to-quantumpath-the-first-quantum-software-development-platform-for-the-hybrid-solutions-ecosystem/

[14] Towards a quantum software engineering. M., Piattini, M. Serrano, R. Pérez-Castillo, G. Peterssen, and J. L. Hevia. IT Prof., vol. 23, no. 1, pp. 62–66, Jan.-Feb. 2021. doi: 10.1109/MITP.2020.3019522 . https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9340056