IBM today launched the Qiskit Functions Catalog, a new set of services that aims to simplify programming quantum computers by abstracting away many of the complexities associated with these machines. “I do think it’s the next big transition since we put the quantum computer on the cloud,” Jay Gambetta, IBM’s VP in charge of its quantum programs, told me. “I’m looking forward to seeing what it can do, and the only way that’s possible is with performant hardware, of course, but also with performant software.
To me, I’m as excited as when I put the quantum computer on the cloud to see how the community will react to it.”
Quantum computers continue to improve. While machines that can run algorithms vastly faster than classical computers are still years away, current quantum machines are usable for a limited set of experiments. However, writing applications for this hardware is another matter.
Launched in 2017, IBM’s Qiskit is one of the leading quantum programming frameworks, alongside Microsoft’s Q# and Google’s Cirq. The Functions Catalog is designed to enable domain experts, who may not possess deep knowledge of quantum computers, to start using quantum computing. IBM is partnering with other companies in the quantum computing industry to create a library of functions.
For instance, Algorithmiq is contributing a service that focuses on error mitigation in noisy systems, while QunaSys offers a service aimed at the ground state energy estimation problem, which has essential applications for chemistry.
Simplifying quantum computing for developers
“What has driven the progress of software and compute in the classical world of abstraction is becoming a reality in the quantum world,” Gambetta said.
The Qiskit framework already helped ease many complexities for developers, and now the Functions Catalog aims to make it even easier for non-quantum experts to leverage innovations in the quantum ecosystem. Gambetta noted that current advancements are laying the groundwork. “I think this is going to be as big as when we put the computer on the cloud because it’s going to transition everyone from having to learn what a quantum gate is to seeing how quantum computing will be injected into workflows.
This is just the start,” he added. Gambetta emphasized that continuous innovation in software and hardware, combined with innovations from the larger partner ecosystem, will unlock quantum computing’s potential. As part of today’s announcement, IBM is also launching Benchpress, a benchmarking tool for quantum software development kits.
Using over 20 benchmarks, IBM pitted Qiskit against BQSKit, Braket, Cirq, Stak, and TKET. Qiskit, which IBM has been rewriting in Rust to enhance performance, typically outperformed the other SDKs by a wide margin. It was 13 times faster at transpiling and producing circuits, and it also created more efficient circuits in the process.
Through these initiatives, IBM aims to simplify quantum development, making it more accessible and practical for a broader range of developers and industries.
