05 · Quantum Software Stack

Status

This module is a placeholder. Pages will be added as content is written — see the repository to contribute.

Writing a quantum program is only one part of running a quantum computation. This module explains how quantum computing software works as a system: how a program is described, transformed, adapted to a target, executed on a simulator or a device, coordinated at runtime, and returned as results.

It builds on 03 · Quantum Programming, which covers how to use quantum software. This module covers how that software works.

Planned pages

Pages are linked here as they are written.

• Understanding the Quantum Software Stack — why running a quantum program involves several cooperating software responsibilities, including those for the program and those for the device it runs on.
• Quantum Program Representations — how the same computation takes different forms at different stages.
• Compilation and Transpilation — how programs are translated, transformed, and adapted to a target.
• Hardware Abstraction and Backend Capabilities — how software describes what a target can do, including how device calibration information is reported.
• Simulation Engines and Methods — how classical simulation methods model quantum computation, and why their tradeoffs differ.
• Quantum Runtime and Classical-Quantum Orchestration — how execution, classical processing, jobs, and results are coordinated.
• Integrated Quantum Software Workflows — complete simulator and hardware workflows that bring the pieces together.