(EETimes) IBM, with its latest open-source software development kit, Qiskit, aims to create a programming environment where the complexity of the underlying technology is no longer a problem for users.
Blake Johnson, Quantum Platform Lead at IBM Quantum, pointed out in an interview with EE Times that quantum technology is showing huge success and the software foundation needs to be laid for extensive use in the future. The Qiskit project is an open-source framework for working with quantum circuits and algorithms. This software interface allows developers to program quantum algorithms using Python scripts. In addition, they can group requests for interactions between various quantum computers.
“The power of quantum computing comes from quantum circuits,” said Johnson. “Quantum circuits can calculate quantities that are intractable or inaccessible with classical computers, which is sort of the principal value proposition of quantum computing. And a good circuit isn’t just based on its width or number of qubits but also its depth.”
The goal of the IBM Quantum Experience was to offer added value so that the programming, started through OpenQASM, would offer a representation at the level of logical operations (“gates”) of the underlying qubits, guaranteeing the development of quantum circuits. “Subsequently, we offered researchers the possibility to understand the noise on real hardware and design better gates through error mitigation,” said Johnson. “We recently released the Qiskit optimization module, beginning our journey toward a frictionless quantum experience.”
Qiskit module
To increase the ecosystem of quantum researchers and application development, IBM has launched Qiskit project, an open-source software development kit for the programming and use of quantum computers. The software kit continues to grow in functionality and today allows users to create quantum computing programs and run them on one of IBM’s true quantum processors or quantum simulators available online.
IBM is making the functions very simple even for those who are not experts in quantum theory or quantum mechanics, which is the basis of a quantum computer. Qiskit lends itself to expanding the quantum development community, and companies will be able to use resources to meet their business’s needs. The web platform offers tutorials that explain how developers can model their optimization problems.