Below is a list of project ideas for [GSoC](https://www.google-melange.com/gsoc/homepage/google/gsoc2014) 2014. All these projects require familiarity with the Nimrod programming, or at minimum, experience with similar programming languages such as C, C#, Java, Python, etc.
**Note** - Any ideas to be added to this page must be placed in a relevant category, have a title, a line stating needed/preferred skills for the idea, and a summary of what the idea is.
Most of the popular garbage collected languages of today require a separately distributed run-time environment, providing only a predetermined set of garbage collection algorithms. This leaves little room for experimentation with various approaches and condemns GC researchers to develop and test their algorithms on specialized platforms such as the [Jikes RVM](http://jikesrvm.org/) that have limited practical significance.
In contrast, in Nimrod, the garbage collection algorithm is chosen at compile-time and embedded in the resulting stand-alone native executable. This enables the users to pick a GC algorithm that's most suitable to their project and allows for a proliferation of GC algorithms, developed by independent groups and individuals, without requiring any modifications to be made to the standard Nimrod distribution.
The Nimrod code generator and type system can provide various GC roots marking strategies, various kinds of write/read barriers and all necessary static type information (e.g. static cycle analysis) and a GC implementation will consist only of a single Nimrod module (supplied as a command-line parameter) that
provides configuration for the code generator and implements the logic of the garbage collection algorithm. This module will be compiled as C code with the rest of the program and it could be easily debugged using standard C/C++ debugging and profiling tools.
* Add support for precise stack marking
* Add support for read barriers and polish the support for Levanoni/Petrank style of write barriers
* Implement the infrastructure for picking a user-supplied GC module
**Bonus points:** Implement simple forms of variety of GC algorithms as a proof-of-concept
* Allow the nimrod bootstrap process to integrate the nimrod standard library source code and other associated resources into the nimrod binary, to be used by the nimrod binary when compiling source code. The included library modules should be overridable, either by a switch passed to the nimrod executable, or by placing an actual library file in a pre-determined path.
**Skill Requirements:** Ability to write efficient parsers.
**Description**:
The Nimrod standard library currently lacks a YAML parsing module. This task requires you to read the YAML specification and to create a module which will be able to parse YAML data into an AST. Subsequently the parser can be used to create a high-level API to access the data.
* Allow the fsmonitor module to work on Microsoft Windows by using native api's to gather information about changes in monitored files and directories.
* Revise the fsmonitor module api to decouple Unix/Linux file handle paradigms (such as using the poll method in in the sockets module) from the api, allowing easier implementations of multiple native backends.
* Implement a procedure which uses native stat-like calls on Linux, Mac, Windows, and other operating systems to gather detailed information about specific file system objects. Allow the bypassing of symlinks
* Add comments to the compiler internals, documenting the various mechansisms and mechanics the compiler uses to analyze and transform nimrod code to the code of the specified backend.
* Reduce the number of assumptions the nimrod builder makes about its host system, in order to reduce configuration restrictions. Assumptions include location and usage of external tools, such as git.