<s>
Max	O
,	O
also	O
known	O
as	O
Max/MSP/Jitter	O
,	O
is	O
a	O
visual	B-Language
programming	I-Language
language	I-Language
for	O
music	B-Application
and	O
multimedia	O
developed	O
and	O
maintained	O
by	O
San	O
Francisco-based	O
software	O
company	O
Cycling	O
'	O
74	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Max	O
program	B-Application
is	O
modular	O
,	O
with	O
most	O
routines	O
existing	O
as	O
shared	O
libraries	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
An	O
application	B-Application
programming	I-Application
interface	I-Application
(	O
API	B-Application
)	O
allows	O
third-party	O
development	O
of	O
new	O
routines	O
(	O
named	O
external	O
objects	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Thus	O
,	O
Max	O
has	O
a	O
large	O
user	O
base	O
of	O
programmers	O
unaffiliated	O
with	O
Cycling	O
'	O
74	O
who	O
enhance	O
the	O
software	O
with	O
commercial	O
and	O
non-commercial	O
extensions	O
to	O
the	O
program	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Because	O
of	O
this	O
extensible	B-Architecture
design	O
,	O
which	O
simultaneously	O
represents	O
both	O
the	O
program	B-Application
's	O
structure	O
and	O
its	O
graphical	B-Application
user	I-Application
interface	I-Application
(	O
GUI	B-Application
)	O
,	O
Max	O
has	O
been	O
described	O
as	O
the	O
lingua	O
franca	O
for	O
developing	O
interactive	O
music	B-Application
performance	O
software	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Originally	O
called	O
The	O
Patcher	B-Application
,	O
this	O
first	O
version	O
provided	O
composers	O
with	O
a	O
graphical	B-Application
interface	I-Application
for	O
creating	O
interactive	O
computer	B-Application
music	I-Application
scores	O
on	O
the	O
Macintosh	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
1989	O
,	O
IRCAM	O
developed	O
Max/FTS	O
(	O
"	O
Faster	O
Than	O
Sound	O
"	O
)	O
,	O
a	O
version	O
of	O
Max	O
ported	O
to	O
the	O
IRCAM	B-General_Concept
Signal	I-General_Concept
Processing	I-General_Concept
Workstation	I-General_Concept
(	O
ISPW	B-General_Concept
)	O
for	O
the	O
NeXT	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Also	O
known	O
as	O
"	O
Audio	O
Max	O
"	O
,	O
it	O
would	O
prove	O
a	O
forerunner	O
to	O
Max	O
's	O
MSP	O
audio	O
extensions	O
,	O
adding	O
the	O
ability	O
to	O
do	O
real-time	O
synthesis	O
using	O
an	O
internal	O
hardware	O
digital	B-Architecture
signal	I-Architecture
processor	I-Architecture
(	O
DSP	O
)	O
board	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
IRCAM	O
's	O
in-house	O
Max	O
development	O
was	O
also	O
winding	O
down	O
;	O
the	O
last	O
version	O
produced	O
there	O
was	O
jMax	O
,	O
a	O
direct	O
descendant	O
of	O
Max/FTS	O
developed	O
in	O
1998	O
for	O
Silicon	O
Graphics	O
(	O
SGI	O
)	O
and	O
later	O
for	O
Linux	B-Application
systems	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
used	O
Java	B-Language
for	O
its	O
graphical	B-Application
interface	I-Application
and	O
C	B-Language
for	O
its	O
real-time	O
backend	O
,	O
and	O
was	O
eventually	O
released	O
as	O
open-source	B-Application
software	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Meanwhile	O
,	O
Puckette	O
had	O
independently	O
released	O
a	O
fully	O
redesigned	O
open-source	B-Application
composition	O
tool	O
named	O
Pure	B-Language
Data	I-Language
(	O
Pd	O
)	O
in	O
1996	O
,	O
which	O
,	O
despite	O
some	O
underlying	O
engineering	O
differences	O
from	O
the	O
IRCAM	O
versions	O
,	O
continued	O
in	O
the	O
same	O
tradition	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Cycling	O
'	O
74	O
's	O
first	O
Max	O
release	O
,	O
in	O
1997	O
,	O
was	O
derived	O
partly	O
from	O
Puckette	O
's	O
work	O
on	O
Pure	B-Language
Data	I-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
Called	O
Max/MSP	B-Application
(	O
"	O
Max	O
Signal	O
Processing	O
"	O
,	O
or	O
the	O
initials	O
Miller	O
Smith	O
Puckette	O
)	O
,	O
it	O
remains	O
the	O
most	O
notable	O
of	O
Max	O
's	O
many	O
extensions	O
and	O
incarnations	O
:	O
it	O
made	O
Max	O
capable	O
of	O
manipulating	O
real-time	O
digital	O
audio	O
signals	O
without	O
dedicated	O
DSP	O
hardware	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
meant	O
that	O
composers	O
could	O
now	O
create	O
their	O
own	O
complex	O
synthesizers	O
and	O
effects	O
processors	O
using	O
only	O
a	O
general-purpose	O
computer	O
like	O
the	O
Macintosh	B-Device
PowerBook	I-Device
G3	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
1999	O
,	O
the	O
Netochka	O
Nezvanova	O
collective	O
released	O
NATO.0	B-Application
+55+3d	I-Application
,	O
a	O
suite	O
of	O
externals	O
that	O
added	O
extensive	O
real-time	O
video	O
control	O
to	O
Max	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Though	O
NATO.0	B-Application
+55+3d	I-Application
became	O
increasingly	O
popular	O
among	O
multimedia	O
artists	O
,	O
its	O
development	O
stopped	O
abruptly	O
in	O
2001	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Cycling	O
'	O
74	O
released	O
their	O
own	O
set	O
of	O
video	O
extensions	O
,	O
Jitter	O
,	O
alongside	O
Max	O
4	O
in	O
2003	O
,	O
adding	O
real-time	O
video	O
,	O
OpenGL	B-Application
graphics	O
,	O
and	O
matrix	B-Architecture
processing	O
capabilities	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Max	O
5	O
,	O
released	O
in	O
2008	O
,	O
redesigned	O
the	O
patching	O
GUI	B-Application
for	O
the	O
first	O
time	O
in	O
Max	O
's	O
commercial	O
history	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
2011	O
,	O
Max	O
6	O
added	O
a	O
new	O
audio	O
engine	O
compatible	O
with	O
64-bit	O
operating	O
systems	O
,	O
integration	O
with	O
Ableton	B-Language
Live	I-Language
sequencer	O
software	O
,	O
and	O
an	O
extension	B-Application
called	O
Gen	O
,	O
which	O
can	O
compile	O
optimized	O
Max	O
patches	O
for	O
higher	O
performance	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Some	O
of	O
the	O
new	O
features	O
include	O
MC	O
,	O
a	O
new	O
way	O
to	O
work	O
with	O
multiple	O
channels	O
,	O
JavaScript	B-Language
support	O
with	O
Node	O
for	O
Max	O
,	O
and	O
Vizzie	O
2	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Max	O
is	O
named	O
after	O
composer	O
Max	O
Mathews	O
,	O
and	O
can	O
be	O
considered	O
a	O
descendant	O
of	O
his	O
MUSIC	B-Application
language	O
,	O
though	O
its	O
graphical	O
nature	O
disguises	O
that	O
fact	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Like	O
most	O
MUSIC-N	B-Application
languages	O
,	O
Max	O
distinguishes	O
between	O
two	O
levels	O
of	O
time	O
:	O
that	O
of	O
an	O
event	O
scheduler	O
,	O
and	O
that	O
of	O
the	O
DSP	O
(	O
this	O
corresponds	O
to	O
the	O
distinction	O
between	O
k-rate	O
and	O
a-rate	O
processes	O
in	O
Csound	B-Application
,	O
and	O
control	O
rate	O
vs.	O
audio	O
rate	O
in	O
SuperCollider	B-Application
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
basic	O
language	O
of	O
Max	O
and	O
its	O
sibling	O
programs	O
is	O
that	O
of	O
a	O
data-flow	O
system	O
:	O
Max	O
programs	O
(	O
named	O
patches	O
)	O
are	O
made	O
by	O
arranging	O
and	O
connecting	O
building-blocks	O
of	O
objects	O
within	O
a	O
patcher	B-Application
,	O
or	O
visual	O
canvas	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Several	O
more	O
complex	O
data	O
structures	O
exist	O
within	O
the	O
program	B-Application
for	O
handling	O
numeric	O
arrays	O
(	O
table	O
data	O
)	O
,	O
hash	O
tables	O
(	O
coll	O
data	O
)	O
,	O
XML	O
information	O
(	O
pattr	O
data	O
)	O
,	O
and	O
JSON-based	O
dictionaries	O
(	O
dict	O
data	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
An	O
MSP	O
data	O
structure	O
(	O
buffer	O
~	O
)	O
can	O
hold	O
digital	O
audio	O
information	O
within	O
program	B-Application
memory	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
addition	O
,	O
the	O
Jitter	O
package	O
adds	O
a	O
scalable	O
,	O
multi-dimensional	O
data	O
structure	O
for	O
handling	O
large	O
sets	O
of	O
numbers	O
for	O
storing	O
video	O
and	O
other	O
datasets	O
(	O
matrix	B-Architecture
data	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Max	O
is	O
typically	O
learned	O
through	O
acquiring	O
a	O
vocabulary	O
of	O
objects	O
and	O
how	O
they	O
function	O
within	O
a	O
patcher	B-Application
;	O
for	O
example	O
,	O
the	O
metro	O
object	O
functions	O
as	O
a	O
simple	O
metronome	O
,	O
and	O
the	O
random	O
object	O
generates	O
random	O
integers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Other	O
objects	O
are	O
graphical	O
,	O
including	O
sliders	O
,	O
number	O
boxes	O
,	O
dials	O
,	O
table	O
editors	O
,	O
pull-down	O
menus	O
,	O
buttons	O
,	O
and	O
other	O
objects	O
for	O
running	O
the	O
program	B-Application
interactively	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Max/MSP/Jitter	O
comes	O
with	O
about	O
600	O
of	O
these	O
objects	O
as	O
the	O
standard	O
package	O
;	O
extensions	O
to	O
the	O
program	B-Application
can	O
be	O
written	O
by	O
third-party	O
developers	O
as	O
Max	O
patchers	B-Application
(	O
e.g.	O
</s>
<s>
by	O
encapsulating	O
some	O
of	O
the	O
functionality	O
of	O
a	O
patcher	B-Application
into	O
a	O
sub-program	O
that	O
is	O
itself	O
a	O
Max	O
patch	O
)	O
,	O
or	O
as	O
objects	O
written	O
in	O
C	B-Language
,	O
C++	B-Language
,	O
Java	B-Language
,	O
or	O
JavaScript	B-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
order	O
of	O
execution	O
for	O
messages	O
traversing	O
through	O
the	O
graph	O
of	O
objects	O
is	O
defined	O
by	O
the	O
visual	O
organization	O
of	O
the	O
objects	O
in	O
the	O
patcher	B-Application
itself	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
a	O
result	O
of	O
this	O
organizing	O
principle	O
,	O
Max	O
is	O
unusual	O
in	O
that	O
the	O
program	B-Application
logic	O
and	O
the	O
interface	O
as	O
presented	O
to	O
the	O
user	O
are	O
typically	O
related	O
,	O
though	O
newer	O
versions	O
of	O
Max	O
provide	O
several	O
technologies	O
for	O
more	O
standard	O
GUI	B-Application
design	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Max	O
documents	O
(	O
named	O
patchers	B-Application
)	O
can	O
be	O
bundled	O
into	O
stand-alone	O
applications	O
and	O
distributed	O
free	O
or	O
sold	O
commercially	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
addition	O
,	O
Max	O
can	O
be	O
used	O
to	O
author	O
audio	O
and	O
MIDI	O
plugin	B-Application
software	O
for	O
Ableton	B-Language
Live	I-Language
through	O
the	O
Max	B-Application
for	I-Application
Live	I-Application
extension	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
With	O
the	O
increased	O
integration	O
of	O
laptop	B-Device
computers	I-Device
into	O
live	O
music	B-Application
performance	O
(	O
in	O
electronic	O
music	B-Application
and	O
elsewhere	O
)	O
,	O
Max/MSP	B-Application
and	O
Max/Jitter	O
have	O
received	O
attention	O
as	O
a	O
development	O
environment	O
available	O
to	O
those	O
serious	O
about	O
laptop	B-Device
music/video	O
performance	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Programs	O
sharing	O
Max	O
's	O
visual	B-Language
programming	I-Language
concepts	O
are	O
now	O
commonly	O
used	O
for	O
real-time	O
audio	O
and	O
video	O
synthesis	O
and	O
processing	O
.	O
</s>
