[extropy-chat] Why no assembler design?

[Alfio Puglisi]

On Mon, 17 Nov 2003, Eugen Leitl wrote:

>A considerable desideratum is an interactive nanoscale simulator, with more
>or less accurate forcefields and a good approximation of bond
>breaking/formation (Brenner's potential is too specialized and too coarse,
>but it's a step in the right direction).
>
>We're having some promising packages in MMTK, PyMOL and VMD/NAMD,
>unfortunately these are geared towards biomolecules. The mainstream is

Speaking as someone who knows more or less nothing about the subject, and
has some vague imagery about lots of painted little balls stuck together,
but knows lots of C++ and other languages, I'm asking: what is your
estimate about the manpower and knowledge required to get an useful tool?
Does one need to be a chemistry expert, or at least interface with one?
Are there standard algorithms and/or formulas that can do the job?

Ciao,
Alfio